With nearly 1 billion people expected watch the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup on TV from Canada, there鈥檚 an excellent chance many of them will see a Southampton student playing for Nigeria. Alongside studies in Economics, Ini-Abashi Umotong has become an international football star representing the 听In the regular playing season,听 the 21-year old 听doubles as a forward for the where she has scored 29 goals in the last season.
Speaking of her achievements, Ini says:
听鈥淚t’s an incredible feeling to know I’ll be representing Nigeria at a World Cup. It still feels like a dream, one I’ll be trying to make last for as long as possible this summer.鈥�
The Head of the Department of Economics, Professor Jean-Yves Pitarakis said of Ini,
听鈥淭his is a highly rigorous and quantitatively oriented programme. It is a remarkable achievement for someone to be able to juggle the demands of competition level sport and the academic pressures that come with a very demanding university degree programme. We wish Ini-Abashi great success in her sporting career and look forward to continue supporting her in her studies.鈥�
Following an initial 3-3 draw against Sweden, Nigeria is set to play Australia today and the United States next Tuesday. Against Sweden, and Australia; Ini-Abashi was an unused substitute and could still see playing time in the following games.