Portrait
CAN 2022 Women: Ashleigh Plumptre, Nigeria attraction
Nigerian Ashleigh Plumptre during CAN 2022. © Courtesy of CAF
Text by: David Kalfa Follow
5 mins
In a few months and a handful of matches, Ashleigh Plumptre has established herself as one of the figures of the Nigerian team.
The 24-year-old England-born defender is one of the attractions for the Super Falcons during the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
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From our special envoy to Morocco,
“
Why isn't Ashleigh Plumptre playing?
"..."
How does Ashleigh Plumptre feel?
»... The questions came up tirelessly among Nigerian journalists during a good part of the Women's African Cup of Nations (
CAN 2022
), organized in Morocco from July 2 to 23.
This shows the importance taken in the space of a few months by this defender aged barely 24, within a team that is nevertheless triple African champion in title, eleven times victorious at the CAN, and which account references to his position as
Onome Ebi
and Osinachi Ohale.
After a solid first performance despite a
2-1 defeat against South Africa
, the resident of Leicester City (England) indeed missed the matches against Botswana (2-0) and Burundi (4-0).
She returned in
the quarter-finals against Cameroon (1-0)
in an unusual left role for such a tall player (1.80m).
A rapid adaptation
It is that the coach of Nigeria, the American Randy Waldrum, seems to rely a lot on his left-hander.
He is not the only one.
In the space of a year, the one who was born in England and has worn the colors of all the English youth selections has made a place for herself with the Super Falcons.
The interested party, whose paternal grandfather was Nigerian, visibly seduced partners and football fans.
"
In Nigeria, the fans are interested in her personality and the fact that she really wants to adapt to the Nigerian culture
," explains Samuel Ahmadu, a Nigerian journalist specializing in women's football.
She has fitted in very well since joining the team in 2021, when Nigeria was on an internship in Austria.
She also succeeded in her induction into the national team where she stood out.
She performed a dance during her induction where there were Nigerian songs and music.
Everyone became fascinated by his energy
.”
Ashleigh Plumptre's dance during her first internship with the Nigerian team.
Samuel Ahmadu also believes that his baptism of fire on the lawns, on February 18 in qualifying for CAN 2022, helped a lot.
"
There's the way they proved to be competitive in Abuja against Côte d'Ivoire
," he adds.
She had a fantastic game.
Everyone in Nigeria was very excited after his performance.
Really nobody expected that, especially against such a solid and physical opposing team.
But she did well and became an anchor of the team
.
From the White House to the green tunic
Today, Tim Plumptre, Ashleigh's father and agent, fully supports his daughter's decision.
“
Ashleigh weighed the pros and cons of foregoing the England team and Arsenal and going for Nigeria and Leicester City.
And the pros far outweighed the cons
, he says.
Ashleigh does what she wants with football and it allows her to help others through
her charities
.
The more success she has with Nigeria, the more interest will grow.
But Ashleigh is well aware of this and is very experienced in handling pressure and time demands
.”
In fact, Ashleigh Plumptre already has a rich and solid experience.
After her years of English training, she went to study biology in Los Angeles.
During this period (2016-2019), she played for the USC Trojans, a Californian university with which she was crowned national champion 2016. Which also earned her an invitation a few months later to the White House.
After this American experience, however, the binational decided to return to her hometown, notably helping Leicester to climb to the English first division and becoming vice-captain of the Foxes.
Then she turned to her plan to represent Nigeria.
A paying choice since the Nigerians have just qualified for the next World Cup.
"
For us, her family, this is an exciting time and we all look forward to supporting her and her team in Australia-New Zealand for the 2023 Women's World Cup
," said Tim Plumptre.
Ashleigh Plumptre with her Leicester club.
The FA via Getty Images - Marc Atkins - The FA
Symbol of diversity
However, all has not always been rosy for Ashleigh Plumptre.
On social networks, some Internet users are wondering about his presence with the Super Falcons.
Because of his appearance?
Métis players are more common in the men's national team (Leon Balogun, William Troost-Ekong, Cyriel Dessers, etc.).
A problem about which the young woman had opened up
to the BBC
a few days after the victory against the Ivorians.
"
I was always assumed to be white
," Plumptre said.
I get a lot of messages and people question my heritage a lot, but I can't necessarily blame them.
It's a question of education
”.
The number 4 does not intend to stop at that, far too absorbed by her adventure with Nigeria.
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