By Balogun Kamilu Lekan
Biography
Rasheedat Busayo Ajibade is a Nigerian female professional footballer who plays for the Spanish Primera División club, Atlético de Madrid.
Rashida was born on December 8, 1999. She is famously called “RASH”, a shortened form of her first name, or “The Girl With The Blue Hair”, an ode to her blue hairstyle.
Ajibade topped Goal.com’s list of the ten most promising young footballers in Africa in 2017.
Education
Ajibade had a diploma degree in accounting from Lagos State Polytechnic before proceeding to Barca Innovation Hub, where she bagged a second degree in Sports Psychology.
Career
Club career
Rashidat started her football career in 2013 with FC Robo in the Nigeria Women’s Premier League. She spent five years with the club.
While at FC Robo, Ajibade was listed among the top talents in the league.
She also won the Nigerian women’s football freestyle competition twice.
For the 2017 Nigeria Women’s Premier League season, Ajibade was made team captain of FC Robo.
In 2018, Rashidat signed for Avaldsnes IL, a Norwegian club, before signing a three-year deal with Atletico Madrid. In 2022, she extended her contract for another three years with the club.
International career
Rasheedat Ajibade started with the Nigerian under-17 side before graduating to the under-20 and then the senior national team.
While with the U-17 side, she represented Nigeria at the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifier, where she bagged a brace against Namibia in 2014.
At the World Cup proper, Rashidat scored against China to bag the Nigerian team a victory.
Later, in the last game of the group stage, she scored a goal in Nigeria’s two-goal win against Mexico to advance to the quarter-final.
Rashidat was also instrumental in the U-20 Women’s team’s qualification for the 2018 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
In the first round of the qualifying game, she bagged a brace for the Nigerian team against Tanzania, which gave Nigeria a three-goal advantage in the first leg.
To seal Nigeria’s spot at the World Cup in France in 2018, Rashidat clinched a brace in a thrilling six-goal trashing of the South African side.
Head coach Thomas Dennerby invited Ajibade to represent Nigeria at the inaugural WAFU Cup in Côte d’Ivoire in February 2018. Ajibade scored a hat-trick in the second group game of the regional tournament, propelling Nigeria to the semi-finals with one game remaining.
Ajibade was a member of the Nigeria women’s national football team that won the African Nations Championship in 2018.
In a 1-0 friendly victory over Slovenian club Olimpija Lubijana in Vienna, Austria, she captained the Super Falcons for the first time.
Marriage
There is no public information about her relationship status at the time.
Net worth
According to online sources, Rasheedat Ajibade’s net worth is around $3 million. However, NewswireNGR cannot independently verify this claim.
Achievements
Rasheedat Ajibade launched the #StandOutWithRASH campaign in the summer of 2020 in collaboration with EaglesTracker, a leading Nigerian athlete branding business.
It was a grassroots football talent promotion campaign in Nigeria. Rasheedat Ajibade used her social media platform to provide budding footballers with prominence as well as football boots, shirts, and cash rewards if they could demonstrate how they stand out on the football field.
She also launched her official brand, RASH, which includes a one-of-a-kind merchandise selection that fans can purchase online.
Below is a glimpse of some of her individual and team honours.
Atlético Madrid
- Supercopa de Espana: 2020–21
Nigeria
- WAFU Women’s Cup third place: 2018
- Women’s Africa Cup of Nations: 2018
Individual
- Toppserien Team of the Season: 2020
- League Bloggers Award: NWPL Player of the Season: 2017
- Nigeria Pitch Awards NWPL Player of the season: 2017
- Nigeria Women Premier League Top scorer: 2017
- Nigeria Football Federation Young Player Of The Year: 2018
- Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Top scorer: 2022
Disclaimer
The information in this article was curated from online sources. NewsWireNGR or its editorial team cannot independently verify all details.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for Live and Entertaining Updates.
Always visit NewsWireNGR for the latest Naija news and updated Naija breaking news.
NewsWireNGRLatest News in Nigeria
Send Us A Press Statement/News Tips on 9ja Happenings: [email protected].
Advertise With Us: [email protected]
