Mercy Joy Akide Udoh (; born 26 August 1975) is a former

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 ...

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

Early life

Mercy started playing football at the age of five with her oldest brother Seleipiri and younger brother Ipali in the sandy field of Bundu Waterside, near Port Harcourt Prisons in Port Harcourt. Her speed was recognized from a young age, and when she was 12 years old, at Holy Rosary Secondary School in Port Harcourt, she took part in

long-distance races Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: * Long-distance calling *Long-distance operator *Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths *Long-distance trail * European long-dis ...

, running the

400m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

800m The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

and

1500m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

races against older competitors. She was also a regional

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

champion, but soccer was the sport where she really stood out. Mercy earned the nickname "Ske", which in local parlance meant "skinny", while playing against boys at Mile 1 in Port Harcourt. Among her many admirers then was a young kid called Chidi Odiah, who is now a full

Nigeria international 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 of G ...

, playing club football with

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

. In consideration of her skills in particular, a group of youth soccer organisers put together a girls'

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

to select the girls who would become "the Garden City Queens". After two years of playing for the Queens, and turning down the

overtures Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...

of the rival Port Harcourt-based Larry's Angels, Akide left Port Harcourt for

Lagos Lagos ( Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 f ...

to continue both education and soccer with Jegede Babes under the influence of Princess Bola Jegede.

Career

Garden City Queens

At that time, the Nigerian Women's league was in its formative years and Garden City Queens was not among the top teams such as Jegede Babes, Ufuoma Babes and Larry's Angels. The club played mostly

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

s around the state with Akide as the star attraction. She averaged nearly five goals per game during the two years she spent at the club. One of those friendly games was against elite team Jegede Babes, and although the Queens lost 6–1, Akide scored the only goal for her side. Club proprietor Princess Bola Jegede was so impressed by her that she promptly offered her a place in her club.

Jegede Babes

Akide joined Jegede Babes just as Nigeria were taking part in the inaugural Women's World Cup in China in 1991. With an already established strike force in place, Akide was moved to

central midfield 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 ...

for the 1992 season where she took time to adjust. But by the 1993 season, she emerged highest goalscorer in both league and Cup. She plundered 16 goals in the league and another 8 in the Challenge Cup. She took the form into the next

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

, scoring 15 goals in the 1994 league season and 10 in the Challenge Cup to earn herself a call-up to coach Ismaila Mabo's national camp. Unfortunately, her goals were not enough to help Jegede to either title.

Ufuoma Babes

After returning from the 1995

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 ...

, Akide (who had by now earned the nickname of Marvelous) pitched tent with Warri-based club Ufuoma Babes, who had won the league and Cup double in the previous two years. It was to be a rewarding move. Her 17 goals in the league and 9 in the Challenge Cup helped Ufuoma to the double. It was the first of many titles. The next season, she hit 11 league goals and 10 Challenge Cup goals and Ufuoma Babes continued their dominance of the domestic league. Akide still finished with the top goalscoring honours in 1997. She scored 14 league goals and 8 Challenge Cup goals as Ufuoma romped to their fourth consecutive double. Pelican Stars dethroned Ufuoma Babes in both the league and Cup in 1998 with Akide scoring a disappointing 10 league goals and 7 in the Challenge Cup.

Pelican Stars

Akide spent only one year with Pelican Stars, but it was a rewarding year,

trophy A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, i ...

wise. Pelican again won the double even though Akide only managed 9 league goals and 6 Challenge Cup goals. By the time the season was over, Akide had earned a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

Milligan College Milligan University is a private Christian university in Milligan College, Tennessee. Founded in 1866 as the Buffalo Male and Female Institute, and known as Milligan College from 1881 to May 2020, the school has a student population of more tha ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

, United States, after a scintillating World Cup performance with the

Super Falcons The Nigeria national women's football team, nicknamed the Super Falcons, represents Nigeria in international women's association football, women's football and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation. The team is by far Africa's most s ...

. In her only season at the school, she recorded 42 goals and 15 assists, setting a record for goals and points (99) in a season.

International career

Her two seasons of consistency with Jegede Babes, where she scored a total of 49 goals in two seasons, caught the attention of national coach Ismaila Mabo and Mercy was called to camp in 1994. But another rush of goals, 17 in the league and 9 in the Challenge Cup earned her a recall. Her international debut came soon after, a World Cup qualifier against

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

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 ...

with Mercy playing as a winger. She marked it with two goals. She scored one more in the return leg to cement her place in the team. In 2001, she was named the first African Women Footballer of the Year, and was a 1999 and 2004 FIFA World All-Star. She has played for Nigeria in three FIFA Women's World Cups and also helped Nigeria's Super Falcons to three African Women Championships (AWC) titles in 1998, 2000 and 2002. In November 2004, she married football

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Colin Udoh in her home town of Port Harcourt. In 2005, she was named by FIFA as one of its 15 Ambassadors for Women Football.

Coaching career

Between 2006 and 2008, Mercy was employed at Stars Soccer Club, where she was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

for Stars U-16 Athena C Gold Girls and worked within Youth Development (an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

also employing her friend Luke Concannon, a coach of the U-13 girls team.) From 2008 to 2013, Mercy worked as the co-director of Youth Development and for Beach FC in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city (United States), independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 United States cen ...

. In 2013, Mercy joined the coaching staff of Virginia Rush Soccer Club, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akide, Mercy 1975 births Living people Nigerian women's footballers Nigeria women's international footballers Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Nigeria 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players Women's United Soccer Association players San Diego Spirit players Sportspeople from Port Harcourt Women's association football midfielders Milligan University alumni Nigerian expatriate women's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States African Women's Footballer of the Year winners Hampton Roads Piranhas players College women's soccer players in the United States