“I couldn’t afford university” – Father of Falconet star elated his daughter will play for Nigeria at the U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Father of Nigerian U-20 Female footballer, Seimeyeha Janet Akekoromewei, has shared his delight at the opportunity the nation has given his daughter, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 17-year-old hails from Ese-Odo in Ondo state, but was raised in Lagos, and is a product of the Asisat Oshoala Academy.

She’s been widely tipped to be the breakout Super Falcons at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup hosted in Colombia, and will kick-off in nine days. While it looks like she might lead the Falconets to the cusp of glory, her story has not always been sunshine and rainbows.

Seimeyeha is the last of 11 children born to Ekperekunmo Akekoromowei Igbala, a retired policeman, but her mother died in June 2014. The forward nearly joined the Nigerian Police Force after graduating from high school, but for the intervention of Olympic gold medallist, Chioma Ajunwa, who instead, told the striker to focus on football, as that’s where her gift lies.

The 6ft2-in-tall striker joined the Asisat Oshoala academy, and has continued to turn heads with the ability she possesses at such a young age, scoring in Nigeria’s 2-1 win over Tanzania in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

Despite their original inclusion, Seimeyeha and six other girls were dropped from Nigeria’s African Games squad. This was because only players born between 2002 and 2006 were eligible to participate, but she made Christian Danjuma’s World Cup squad list, which made her father elated.

“I’m so happy my daughter will be playing for Nigeria at the Women’s World Cup. I was just a police officer struggling to get by, and I wanted my daughter to get by as well because I couldn’t enroll her in university because I didn’t have the money. She followed her dreams and she has made all of us proud. I’m very grateful to the Asisat Oshoala Academy and their director, who always called me to assure me she would be a great footballer. We will support her all the way and wish her all the best,” Ekperekunmo Akekoromowei told Soccernet.ng.

The striker’s inclusion means she’s the second player from the Asisat Oshoala Academy to have featured in an International tournament this year, having a member in the  Women’s U-20 and U-17 World Cups, respectively, which is a testament to the good work put in by the academy, owned by the Bay F.C. forward.

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup kicks off on August 31st and will run till September 22nd. This edition marks the expansion of the tournament to allow the participation of 24 national teams.

The Super Falconets have been drawn into Group D alongside Germany, Venezuela, and Korea Republic in the group stage.

Nigeria kick off their campaign against Korea Republic on September 2, before taking on Germany two days after. They’ll play their final group game against Venezuela on September 7. The Falconets will play friendlies against Mexico and Australia in preparation for their outing in Colombia.