Sophia Omotola Omidiji
Sophia Omotola Omidiji (born June 18, 1997) is a Nigerian-American football player. She played for the Nigerian U-20 Women National team and is signed to Dutch Division I Club S.B.V. Excelsior after completing a switch from KAA Gent in Belgium in June 2017.
Picture at camp with Nigeria U20 National team September 2015. | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Sophia Omotola Omidiji | ||
Date of birth | June 18, 1997 | ||
Place of birth | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | ||
Height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) | ||
Playing position(s) | Forward | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | S.B.V. Excelsior | ||
Youth career | |||
2013–2015 | Las Vegas Premier Sports Academy | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2015 | PSV/FC Eindhoven | 20 | (18) |
2016–2017 | KAA Gent | 20 | (15) |
2017–2018 | S.B.V. Excelsior | 18 | (8) |
2018– | FC RDC | 15 | (25) |
Total | 73 | (66) | |
National team‡ | |||
2013– | Nigeria U-20 | 2 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of May 15, 2017 |
Early life
Sophia Omotola Omidiji was born on June 18, 1997, and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, by a Nigerian father and an American mother.[1] She began playing football at the age of five. Omidiji played high school football for Sierra Vista High School where she is the all-time leading goal scorer with 98 goals in four seasons including scoring 38 goals in her final season.[2] She played at the school including the school's first ever regional/State/NIAA Southern Nevada final.[3] She also played club soccer with Las Vegas Premier Sports Academy for coach Eyal Dahan.[4]
Playing career
PSV / FC EINDHOVEN
In August 2015, Omidiji signed with PSV/FC Eindhoven women's team in the Netherlands prior to going to camp with the Nigerian U20 women National team, .[5][6][7][8]
KAA GENT
In 2016, Sophia Omidiji transferred to KAA Gent which is a team that plays in the Belgium division I and played in 20 games and scored 18 goals with 12 assists.
S.B.V. Excelsior
In June 2017 Sophia Omidiji made the transfer from KAA Gent to S.B.V Excelsior which is a new addition to the Dutch Eredivisie which is the division I in the Netherlands.
International
Omidiji received her first national team call up with Nigeria women's national under-20 football team for an African world cup U-20 qualification game against Democratic Republic of Congo in an away game in Kinshasa.[9] She called the call up to the national team the "greatest honor of my life".[1]
She trained with the team in Abuja before heading to Kinshasa for the game against Congo where Nigeria won 2–1.[10][11]
She received a national team call up into the senior women's team the super falcons on April 2 for a friendly against France.[12]
Personal
Omidiji has 3 younger brothers named Lateef Omidiji Jr. who played for the 2016-2017 current Dutch champions of the Netherlands: Feyenoord O15's,[13] Rasheed Omidiji who played for FC Den Bosch's O10's selection team, and Amir Omidiji who played for V.V Baronie's JY7's.
References
- "Sophia Omotola Omidiji: "It is the greatest honour of my life to represent my Nation"". Women's Soccer United. October 21, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
- "Sierra Vista Girls Soccer". Nevada Preps. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- "Sierra Vista Girls Soccer". Nevada Preps. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- "GotSoccer Team Detail". Got Soccer. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- "Jong ADO Vrouwen wint ING Dames Beloften toernooi | ADO Den Haag Vrouwen" (in Dutch). Adovrouwen. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- "Goede dag voor ADO Den Haag vrouwen – Haaglanden Voetbal". HaaglandenVoetbal.nl. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- "Fotoarchief Chamid Media" (in Dutch). Sport Fotografie. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- "Dubbele winst voor ADO Den Haag Vrouwen | ADO Power Vrouwen" (in Dutch). Adopowervrouwen. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- "U-20 W/Cup: Falconets Sure Of Victory Over DR Congo". The Tide News Online. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- "Falconets leave for Kinshasa". Punch NG. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- "Female U20: US-based Nigerian invited by NFF -". The Eagle Online. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- "Exclusive: Holland Based Sophia Omidiji Gets Super Falcons Call Up For France Friendly - Soccer Assembly". www.soccerassembly.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
- "Feyenoord troeft Engelse topclubs af en trekt Omidiji (13) aan". www.fr12.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved June 19, 2017.
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