Read How I Spent A Day about Two Decades Ago With Some Members of The USWNT AT A San Jose Hotel With UT Austin Journalism Professor Kathy Winkler Dawson
Read How I Spent A Day about Two Decades Ago With Some Members of The USWNT AT A San Jose Hotel With UT Austin Journalism Professor Kathy Winkler Dawson
Republished.
With the success of the Nigerian female teams at the under-20 world cup and the at the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup in France the profile of women’s soccer continues to rise. And of course I was happy that Alex Morgan and the team won the World Cup in France for the fourth time.
In 2003, I worked with Film maker Kate Dawson (who is also pictured here), pro bono, on a documentary that promoted the game for women. This was soon after I interviewed Mercy Akide for a feature story in Newswatch. For the Akhide story, I also interviewed some of her club teammates in the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) including former US Women’s National Team Captain and ESPN analyst Julie Foudy and Shannon Boxx, one of the longest serving members on the US Women’s National Soccer Team. The interview came at one of the lowest periods of Africa’s best female soccer player. But true to her indomitable spirit Akide, now a UN Goodwill Ambassador, endured the challenges of that season to finish her career well. The Akhide story.
Mercy Akide: Africa’s best female soccer player, and a reflection on her skills by her former teammates, including Shannon Boxx, Shannon MacMillan, Julie Foudy and Goalkeeper Jaime Pagliarulo
By Ben Edokpayi, in San Jose
Can you imagine Super Falcon’s star forward “Marvelous Mercy Akide, playing 13 games with no goals and assists? That has been the predicament so far for Africa’s best female export to the Women’s United Soccer Association, WUSA, league in the United States.
“This has to be the worst soccer season in my life” Akide told Newswatch in a recent interview from her home in Southern California, where she plays for the WUSA’s San Diego Spirit.
The story gets worse. In a game against the Philadelphia Charge in June, the prolific scorer was ejected and suspended for one game for charging at the Charge’s Melissa Moore with intent to hurt in a goalmouth scramble. The referee claimed it was a head butt and promptly followed with a red card. It was Akide’s first in a professional career that goes back to the beginning of a career that started with the Ufuoma Babes in 1991.
Akide has a slightly different explanation for the red card incident. “I went up to do my best to put in the goal,” she said. “We collided. She stood up to me and shouted at my face. So I said, ‘What? Why are you shouting?’ The next thing I saw was the red card. I think the referee was biased,” she said. “I will not back down from anyone who insults me on the field, but I have already put that incident behind me,” she adds.
Still, you get the feeling that all is not going well for Africa’s leading female player and FIFA all-star. The best illustration for her up and down season comes from comparing statistics in the two seasons she has played in the American league.
Akide has come off the bench in five out of eight games this season, whereas in her debit season she started 13 out of 18 games. With four games left in the 2002 season it would be a stretch for the Port Harcourt native to equal last year’s appearance standards.
In 2001, Akide was second on the team in scoring, with 12 points (4 goals and 4 assists.) She also became the first African player to score a point and a goal in WUSA. In week 12 of that season, Akide was named the WUSA player of the week for her two-goal performance against the Boston Breakers. Contrast that with no goals and no assists in the current season and then you can imagine the frustration for a player who has scored 35 goals in approximately 45 appearances for the Nigerian national team.
Akide, to be fair, has not lost the passion, flair and physical presence she displays when playing for the Falcons. Even her Spirit teammates acknowledge this. “It’s exciting playing with Mercy because she’s got so much character and so much flair in her game. Whenever she picks up the ball and runs at defenses you can almost see the fear in their eyes,” said Shannon MacMillan, who is the Spirit’s leading goalscorer and a key player in the US National team. “You never know what’s going to happen because she’s got so much speed and power on the ball,” said MacMillan.
Julie Foudy, who doubles as team captain for the Spirit and US National team, is even more complimentary of Akide’s attributes. She told Newswatch “I think she’s a specimen in terms of her physical ability. She is tall, she’s strong and she is good on the ball.”
Foudy’s plaudits also go way back to when they were on opposing teams. She said “when we scouted Nigeria at the 1999 World Cup and the 2000 Olympics, Mercy was the one we talked about a lot because she is always scoring and creating goals for her national team. She was the key player we focused on so I knew about what she can do even before she came here.”
So it comes as one of the biggest surprises in the WUSA’s sophomore season that a player many thought would make the Spirit a strong contender for the Founder’s cup, has failed to deliver.
Akide blames her lack-luster showing on enormous pressure from team officials. According to her “the pressure from the officials is too much. They are threatening that they will cut me from the team if I don’t score.” Somehow, you get the feeling from the strain in her voice, that the team’s shortcomings are being heaped on her shoulders “How can you perform well with such threats hanging over your head?” she rhetorically asked.
While Akide has played in almost every Spirit home game this season, she is sparingly used when the team is on the road. Because most WUSA teams travel with an average of 16 players for road games Akide has been considered surplus requirements in 75 percent of the team’s away games. In one road game against defending champions CyberRays, this reporter traveled several hours to San Jose for a pre-arranged interview only to be told by team officials that Akide was dropped from that game’s roster just before the team embarked on the trip.
To compound issues the Spirit have lost the spunk they displayed all season last year. Even with a roster loaded with star players like Foudy, MacMillan, powerful Chinese forward Zhang Quying and Florence Omagbemi, captain of the Falcons, the Spirit have struggled losing eight games out of 14. They are currently placed seventh in an eight team format and have no chance of making the WUSA playoffs which begin in August.
No matter what happens at the end of the 2002 season Akide is looking forward to a better season next year. She also cannot wait to play for the National team again. That opportunity will come later this month when she travels to join the national team ahead of their friendly game against the English side.
“I can’t wait to join my national team family. We have not played a game for so long,” Aide told Newswatch. That game will also be the first for the new Super Falcons coach Sam Okpodu. The ex-Bendel Insurance forward and Virginia Tech University head coach was appointed last month to prepare the Falcons for the 2003 Women’s World Cup in China and the African Women’s Nation’s Cup later this year.
Akide is elated at Okpodu’s appointment. “He’s got game, international experience and he will bring intensity to our play” she said. “He is a good guy and I think he is going to do well.” Perhaps the intensity that Akide is expecting Okpodu to bring to the Falcons will be the stimulus she needs to regain her scoring touch when WUSA teams return for next season’s campaign.
Akide in the eyes of her WUSA club teammates:
Forward Shannon Boxx: “As a player she’s very strong, very good on the ball. She holds people off like no other. I mean playing against her is difficult. We go up against each other everyday in practice so I know the defenders that have to play against her must hate it. She’s just so powerful and anytime she’s in the box just beware because she can shoot from anywhere. Her best quality is her presence… She laughs at everything and I think she’s having a little more fun this year because of the arrival of Florence (Omagbemi). She’s just great to be around. Always in a good mood, never down. Just rooming with her a couple of times, show’s she’s just a great personality.”
Midfielder Shannon McMillan: “It’s exciting playing with Mercy because she’s got so much character and so much flair in her game and whenever she picks up the ball and running at defenders you can almost see the fear in their eyes. You never know what’s going to happen with her. She has a huge heart and is so willing to learn and be coached and it’s so evident she loves the game.”
Goalkeeper Jaime Pagliarulo: “The only negative I have against Mercy is other than the fact I have to go up against her in practice everyday. No, I mean she’s a great player. Obviously her physical presence and strength is such an asset for her. I mean as a goalkeeper she’s the kind of player you don’t want to go up against.”
Midfielder, longest serving captain of the US Women’s National Team and ESPN Analyst Julie Foudy: “She brings a lot of laughter to the team. She’s a crackup. I think she’s a specimen in terms of her physical ability. She’s strong, she’s tall, she’s good on the ball. So many great qualities. She can hold off 4 or 5 players at a time because she’s so strong. So daily when I train against her I am amazed at her physical attributes. I mean when we scouted Nigeria in ’99 she was the one we talked about a lot because she’s scoring and creating goals for them. She was the key player we focused on so I knew about her. I think she’s done very well coming to America and adjusting to a new place and teammates is an experience in itself, but I think she’s done very well.
I am Not Moody and Ben Edokpayi Is Not The Moody One
Meet The Ex Who Was At My Home In Vacaville for Professional Collaboration and Met The Ex-Wife and my son’s. We spent some of our time at Meadwolands park In A One On One Interview and Have No Idea If the fact we were in a Vacaville Park for a Long time Stirred Some Jealousy and Bad Blood from the ex. We were supposed to go to Nigeria together to do a section of the Movie on Mercy Akhide. The Project titled “The Glass Ceiling “ also featured a Chinese Player and Pioneer in the America’s Professional Football for Women. Now it is well known that an exceptional was trapped by a bad marriage. Here is one more woman who tried to save me.
