Goal Machine!
FC Robo star Monday Gift, giving life to her form as a striker in her own words.
And is she spot on for a player that scored Nine goals in five games and 12 overall to emerge as the highest goal scorer at the NWFL super six?
The championship playoff in Edo state once again provided Nigeria women’s football a portrait of their next top striker.
Monday Gift didn’t plan to go professional until she made the team to represent Lagos State at the 2012 national festival.
From that point forward, the striker that started as a defender at amateur wanted more as a professional.
All About Asissat Oshoala’s Mentality
Tall, fast and strong are the attributes you will give a striker like Monday, and she is not alone.
Former national team strikers like Mercy Akide-Udoh and her role model, Asisat Oshoala, have the same build and especially eyes for goals.
For Monday, Asisat’s mentality reflects in her approaches to games as a close relationship exists between them.
“I see how she analyses chances after games. Asisat critically looks at her missed chances and how she could have done better. I take on that mentality and it helps me with scoring goals.”
Strangely, for Monday Gift, her eyes for goals developed during her amateur days playing as a defender.
Like most women footballers, her origins include playing with boys on the street.
“Even as a defender back then, i always have eyes for the strikers position. I look at how to spot opportunities to stop the goals”.
One important lesson she took from the street games was not to lose because she doesn’t like the taunts that come with it from her opponents during street kickabouts.
“They always mock losers when we play and i remind myself that i don’t want to be mocked, so i put in the work to always be on the winning side.”
Monday’s Gift Making Way For Her
Since starting at the now-defunct City of David United Ladies, Monday has enjoyed a consistent rise scoring 18 goals during her two-season stint, including in the final to win the 2016 Lagos FA Women’s Cup before joining FC Robo in 2017.
Netting 13 times for the Nigeria Women’s Football League Premiership side, Robo FC, drew all the attention to her.
She captained Nigeria to African Games glory for the first time in 12 years, scoring the opening goal as a teenage sensation.
Monday Gift: Super Falcons Chance.
After her performances at the NWFL Super 6, stakeholders questioned her omission from the provisional 31-player roster by Super Falcons coach Randy Waldrum.
Her previous appearances in the Super Falcons were filled with chances well taken: but she still had to wait.
Monday scored a goal as a substitute in a 9-0 win over Equatorial Guinea as Nigeria won the Turkish Women’s Cup in Antalya in February 2021.
Also, she came from the bench to provide an assist in Nigeria’s 3-3 draw against Portugal at the US Summer Series.
At the Aisha Buhari Cup, she came into her own in front of her home fans.
Coming off the bench, Gift netted a brace in a 2-0 win over Mali, including another assist in a 4-2 loss to South Africa.
“Playing for the super falcons in Lagos was special for me as it is the state where my people are and i didn’t want to disappoint.”
Before the goals galore at the super six, the world saw a glimpse of her potential.
Monday Gift: A Future Star By Goal.com
Monday Gift was part of Goal.com‘s inaugural global women’s NxGn top 10 in 2020 and has lived up to the status.
Samuel Ahmadu, a top women’s football journalist, was a part of the next-gen panel.
“I’ve followed her progress closely, right from her days at defunct COD United ladies through to FC Robo Queens, scoring fantastic goals. Even though she looked not the finished article yet but she’s shown that pace, power and certainly knows where the goal is.” Samuel tells sportsintel.
“These are unique attributes of a potential global star that appeal to me about her. I also saw her at several youth national team camps and considered her as one that is destined for great things. She has all it takes to surpass our past and active Nigerian stars.