OKAFOR CHINEDU MOSES
The creativity of Rafiu Oluwatosin on the field of play makes one remember Zinedine Yazid Zidane, who was nicknamed Zizou by his coach at Bordeaux, Rolland Courbis. Coach Courbis was looking affectionate nickname for Zidane.
Zidane, popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most successful coaches in the world.
There is no doubt that Tosin, a player of Asisat Oshoala Academy, may be the Zizou coming out of Nigeria football. Tosin is the best to come out of Ikorodu at the moment as a young girl soccer player, a ball carrier /ball passer. Her admirers called her ‘Portable Zizou’, a super ball carrier and passer.
Who is a ball carrier? A ball carrier in football is the offensive player who has possession of the ball and is attempting to move forward in order to gain positive yardage. A ball carrier can be a running back, wide receiver, quarterback or any other position player who has control of the ball on that given play. These are what Tosin knows how to do best when she is on the field of play.
She was spotted by Kazeem Alabi the Head Coach of Asisat Oshoala Academy in Lagos. A Junior Secondary School 1 Student in Ikorodu, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, Tosin’s love and passion for the round leather game is top-notch. According to her school teacher, she often used oranges to play football during and after school hours. This led the Asisat Oshoala Academy’s scouting team to go in search of Tosin.
For Tosin, her idol is Zinedine Zidane even as she looks forward to playing in Europe someday.
“Since I was here (Asisat Oshoala Academy), I could say that this is the best to have happened to women’s football in Lagos, I learned a lot from the academy’s resource people. I have learnt basic skills, ball control, how to make accurate passes and speed on the ball. I can say that my performance is better than when I newly joined the academy,” Tosin, Portable Zizou said.
The Asisat Oshoala Academy is an engaging training platform for young girls to learn the real basics of football. The academy is an all-around training engagement that will expose the girls to football at their ages. The Asisat Oshoala Academy was established by the Asisat Oshoala Foundation in partnership with two renowned international organisations; Women Win of Germany and Nike Inc. of USA.