An interesting interview with Perpetua Nkwocha, 38, a Nigerian international who now plays in the Swedish league, sheds light on the difficulties of being a professional footballer in her culture.
Nkwocha, who has scored 41 goals in her 83 international appearances, shared how her job has helped her to support her family in The FIFA weekly. She also admitted that her father used to beat her after she played football, which is unthinkable in many of our societies today.
“At the outset my father refused to accept that I was out in the street with boys, running around after a football, and forbade me from playing the game. But I didn’t let that stop me – even if it did always earn me a beating.” – Nkwocha
The talented striker also admitted that despite all that happened to her when she was younger, she was still determined to help her family members at home.
“My salary amounts to approximately €4,000 per month, a quarter of which goes to the Swedish tax office. But with my club taking care of my board and lodgings, I’m able to send a considerable part of my income back home to support my family – my parents, my five brothers and my two sisters. They live in a small place called Amankwu Umuhu. I really appreciate the reliability and the sense of order here in Sweden. That’s also in stark contrast to Nigeria, where many promises are made but very few are kept.” – Nkwocha
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXJnXdpq1eA]
The Algarve Cup recently wrapped up in Portugal, and it’s a tournament bringing together many of the best teams in women’s football.
Euro 2013 champions Germany eventually picked up the trophy after four successive wins and outstanding victories over China, Iceland and Norway.
That meant that the USA – who are the self-noted ‘perfectionists’ at tournaments – missed out on winning this year’s edition. They had an unusually poor run, failing to win any of their three group matches. Let’s not forget that Tom Sermanni’s team had gone into the tournament unbeaten in two years!
