At just 15, Harmony Achifula is proving to be a ferocious goal poacher.
The teenager’s goals recently fired Imo Striker Queens to the NWFL Championship, the second tier of women’s league, scoring 10 goals in four games in the Nationwide league in Benin City.
Her heroics have not gone unnoticed. NWFL boss Aisha Falode specifically brought her to Lagos on Tuesday as one of the personnel to conduct the draw for the NWFL Super Six tournament, where she was in company with Super Falcons captain, Onome Ebi and Gift Monday, as part of efforts to ensure she realises her football dream.
However, it’s not all been rosy for the Imo-born footballer.
While growing up without a father, Achifula began playing football at age six barefooted in Mbaitoli in Imo State with boys, but her mother was vehemently against it.
And she often got punished for stealing out to play football with the boys, but her grandmother, now late, came to her rescue.
Her granny, who saw the talent in her, subsequently bought the emerging star her first jersey, in a bid to encourage her to pursue her dream.
“My father died when I was still a kid, so it was my mother who raised me up,” Achifula told PUNCH Sports Extra.
“She beat me and did all sorts of things to stop me from playing football but thank God my late grandmother supported my dreams to play football. She gave me everything I needed to succeed, bought my first football jersey. Things have changed now and my family is fully supporting my career.”
Achifula only joined her first female club barely a year, but she’s gone on to become a star with several Nigerians clamouring for her to be invited to the national U-17 team, the Flamingos.
At the recently concluded NWFL nationwide amateur women’s qualifying competition in Benin City, the Edo State capital, Harmony scored 10 of the 15 goals scored by Imo Strikers in four games, to book a ticket to the NWFL Championship League.
Aside from emerging as top scorer in the competition, she was also the unanimous Most Valuable player, a feat she is extremely proud of.
“It was God’s wish for me to score 10 goals in four games. I am happy and glad I had the opportunity to do it and I believe it is God’s grace.”
Picking football for Harmony was an easy choice as she believes the talent was innate.
“I have always believed that it is God’s wish for me to play football. I started playing with boys in Mbaitoli, my village, when I was six before I joined a female team. I love football a lot.”
Like her role model Asisat Oshoala, Harmony one day dreams to become a professional footballer plying her trade with some of the best clubs in Europe such as Barcelona and Chelsea.
“I’ll love to play football professionally outside the country for maybe Chelsea or Barcelona. I love Chelsea and Barcelona female teams because of the way they play.”
Combining football and education is a daunting task for many an athlete, but Achifula’s coach Nelly Orisakwe says the versatile player has been able to create a balance.
“We made her understand that being a footballer does not mean you should be illiterate, that she must combine her football with education because most professional players are graduates. We also tell her that there is life after football. She is in SS2 but we have registered her to write WAEC,” Orisakwe told PUNCH Sports Extra.
Orisakwe sees her player becoming one of the country’s biggest stars in the coming years.
“In eight years time, with what I’ve seen in her, Harmony will go places because she’s very disciplined and always willing to learn. What we’re only praying for is that God protect her from injuries.”
Despite her feat in Benin, Achifula says her best moment so far in her young career was at a recent tournament in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
“My best moment was when I went to Lokoja. I was the top scorer and Most Valuable Player, before we came to Benin to play the Nationwide league,” Harmony added.
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