Sophia Omotola Omidiji

Sophia Omotola Omidiji

Picture at camp with Nigeria U20 National team September 2015.
Personal information
Full name	Sophia Omotola Omidiji
Date of birth	(1997-06-18) June 18, 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Height	5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Team 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)
International career^‡
2013–	Nigeria U-20	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of May 15, 2017

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.

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. She has three younger brothers and began playing football at the age of six.[1] 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

World cup qualifiers preparation training in Abuja September 2015

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

1. "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.
2. "Sierra Vista Girls Soccer". Nevada Preps. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
3. "Sierra Vista Girls Soccer". Nevada Preps. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
4. "GotSoccer Team Detail". Got Soccer. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
5. "Jong ADO Vrouwen wint ING Dames Beloften toernooi | ADO Den Haag Vrouwen" (in Dutch). Adovrouwen. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
6. "Goede dag voor ADO Den Haag vrouwen – Haaglanden Voetbal". HaaglandenVoetbal.nl. August 16, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
7. "Fotoarchief Chamid Media" (in Dutch). Sport Fotografie. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
8. "Dubbele winst voor ADO Den Haag Vrouwen | ADO Power Vrouwen" (in Dutch). Adopowervrouwen. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
9. "U-20 W/Cup: Falconets Sure Of Victory Over DR Congo". The Tide News Online. October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
10. "Falconets leave for Kinshasa". Punch NG. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
11. "Female U20: US-based Nigerian invited by NFF -". The Eagle Online. April 15, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
12. "Exclusive: Holland Based Sophia Omidiji Gets Super Falcons Call Up For France Friendly - Soccer Assembly". www.soccerassembly.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
13. "Feyenoord troeft Engelse topclubs af en trekt Omidiji (13) aan". www.fr12.nl (in Dutch). March 30, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.