Deborah Ajibola Abiodun, popularly known as "Kante," is a fast rising

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

professional women's footballer. She was born 2 November 2003 and raised in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Deborah passion about

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

since her childhood, and her incredible game vision has set her apart on the field. She started her professional journey with

Rivers Angels Rivers Angels F.C. (formerly Larry Angels F.C.) is a Nigerian football club based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. They play in the Nigeria Women Premier League, the top flight division in the female soccer league system. History The club wa ...

Football Club in the Nigerian women's premier league and her performances caught the attention of scouts, which leads to a full scholarship offer from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

’s women's soccer team in the United States. Deborah's versatility and outstanding range of skills allows her to contribute effectively as a

Central Midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

(CMF), Attacking Midfielder (AMF), Defensive Midfielder (DMF) and an standout player in the midfield.

2023 World Cup

In 2023, at age 19, Deborah made her

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

for

against canada for a rough challenge on

Ashley Lawrence Ashley Elizabeth Marie Lawrence (born June 11, 1995) is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, full-back or a midfielder for Women's Super League club Chelsea F.C. ...

. Despite the match ending in a goalless draw, her solid performance generate attention, even though she received a red card during stoppage time after a

VAR Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

review,this was the first red card of the World Cup 202

''Deborah'' has proven herself as one of the Midfielder, midfield maestros of the future,with accomplishments at both the club and international levels.She has played a vital role in

’ success in the

NWFL Premiership The NWFL Premiership (formerly Nigeria Women Premier League) is the top-level league for women's association football in Nigeria. It is the women's equivalent of the men's league, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). The Nigeria Wome ...

, the

CAF Women's Champions League The CAF Women's Champions League (french: Ligue des Champions Féminine de la CAF; ar, دوري أبطال إفريقيا للسيدات), sometimes abbreviated as ''CAF WCL'', is an annual international women's association football club compet ...

, as well as the

Falconets The typical falconets, ''Microhierax'', are a bird of prey genus in the family Falconidae. They are found in southeast Asia and the smallest members of Falconiformes, averaging about in length and in weight. The smallest members of the genus ...

’ impressive run in the

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

br>
Deborah Abiodun is poised to achieve great things both in

women's football and on the global stage with her track record and experience, she remains a beacon of hope and inspiration for aspiring female Football player, footballers across the world.https://futball.com.ng/2023/07/22/deborah-abiodun/

References

2003 births Living people Rivers Angels F.C. players Nigerian women's footballers Nigeria women's international footballers 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer players {{Nigeria-women-footy-bio-stub