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Deborah Abiodun

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Nigerian footballer (born 2003)

Deborah Abiodun
Personal information
Date of birth (2003-11-02) 2 November 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Ibadan, Nigeria
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team Washington Spirit
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2023–2024 Pittsburgh Panthers 34 (10)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Rivers Angels
2025– Washington Spirit 0 (0)
International career
2022 Nigeria U-20 3 (0)
2022– Nigeria 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 July 2024

Deborah Ajibola Abiodun (Listen; born 2 November 2003), popularly known as "Kante", is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Nigeria national team. She played collegiately for the Pittsburgh Panthers, where she was named All-ACC two times.

Early life and college career

Abiodun was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, and attended Nasarawa State Sport Academy. Her play with Nigeria Women Premier League club Rivers Angels caught the attention of scouts, which led to a full scholarship offer from the University of Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Panthers

Abiodun spent two seasons with the Pittsburgh Panthers under the coaching of Randy Waldrum, also her coach with the Nigeria national team. In her freshman season, she made 22 appearances (19 starts) and scored 6 goals with 3 assists, earning Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) all-freshman and third-team All-ACC honors. In the NCAA tournament, she scored two times, in a 6–0 win against Ohio State in the first round and opening a 3–0 win against Memphis in the third round, as Pittsburgh made the national quarterfinals for the first time in program history. In her sophomore season, she played only 12 games (9 starts) as she missed six games due to injury. She scored 4 goals and earned second-team All-ACC honors.

Club career

Washington Spirit

The Washington Spirit announced on January 6, 2025, that they had signed Abiodun to a three-year contract with an option to extend for an additional year.

International career

Abiodun represented Nigeria at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, starting three games. Nigeria won their group but lost 2–0 to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals on August 22. Abiodun received her first senior call-up the following month. She made her senior international debut on September 3, 2022, starting in a 4–0 friendly loss to the United States.

Abiodun was selected to Nigeria's roster for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. She made her tournament debut against Canada on 21 July 2023. She was handed a red card during stoppage time after a VAR review (the first red card of the tournament) as Nigeria held on to a 0–0 draw.

Abiodun started all 3 games for Nigeria at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nigeria lost each game and finished bottom of their group.

References

  1. ^ Deborah Abiodun at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  2. "Abiodun Deborah". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Deborah Abiodun". Pittsburgh Panthers. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  4. Sanyaolu, Isaac (22 July 2023). "Deborah Abiodun – Nigeria | Player Profile". Futball Naija. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  5. Krysinsky, John (3 July 2024). "Randy Waldrum selects Nigeria's women's squad for Olympic tournament including Pitt's Deborah Abiodun". Pittsburgh Soccer Now. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  6. Krysinsky, John (24 November 2023). "Final: Florida State 3, Pitt 0 (NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament Quarterfinal)". Pittsburgh Soccer Now. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  7. Krysinsky, John (6 November 2024). "Pitt's Sarah Schupansky and Deborah Abiodun named to All-ACC Women's Soccer Second Team". Pittsburgh Soccer Now. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  8. "Washington Spirit Starts Promising 2025 Rookie Class with Two Signings". Washington Spirit. 6 January 2025. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  9. "USWNT Returns To Action With Match Against Nigeria". United States Soccer Federation. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  10. "Nigeria Women's World Cup 2023 squad: Who's in & who's out?". Goal.com. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  11. "Nigeria's Deborah Abiodun handed first red card of FIFA Women's World Cup 2023". The Hindu. 23 July 2023.
Washington Spirit – current squad


Nigeria squads
Nigeria squad – 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
Nigeria
Nigeria women's football squad – 2024 Summer Olympics
Nigeria
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