Asisat Oshoala: Should the Super Falcons star player have taken the first penalty?

Asisat Oshoala watched on as Nigeria got knocked out 4-2 on penalties by England but the Super Falcons star never got to attempt a single spot kick.

Millions of Nigerian hearts broke from Brisbane to Lagos as the Super Falcons suffered a Round of 16 exit at the hands of England despite a valiant display in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Nigeria exceeded all pre-game expectations and gave the significantly more fancied England a tougher game than anyone anticipated, going the distance, all the way to penalty shootouts where they lost 4-2.

One noteworthy angle of this game is that Super Falcons talisman and star player, Asisat Oshoala did not play a penalty despite being on the pitch during the shootout.

Why Oshoala did not take a penalty for the Super Falcons against England

England started the shootout with Georgia Stanway who missed, shooting wide of Chiamaka Nnadozie’s right but Nigeria’s Desire Oparanozie followed suit with the exact same penalty, a carbon copy of Stanway’s miss.

Beth England took the opportunity to make up for the first miss with both hands, converting brilliantly after which England’s advantage was sealed when Michelle Alozie blasted well over the bar.

Rachel Daly doubled England’s lead after which Rasheedat Ajibade pulled one back to make it 2-1 but the Lionesses were unwilling to cede their advantage again.

Alex Greenwood and Christy Ucheibe both converted leaving it at 3-2 until Chloe Kelly stepped up with England’s last kick, a superb penalty, the pick of the bunch, worthy of winning any shootout.

With all nine penalty takers now mentioned, one obvious name is missing and it is Asisat Oshoala, the Super Falcons star who would have definitely taken the last penalty for Nigeria.

The problem with that is, the shootouts never made it to the last kick because the initial takes had missed which rehashes a long unanswered question in football; should the best penalty taker/star of the team take the first or last kick?

Should a star player go first or last? An argument for both sides

Why Asisat Oshoala should have taken the first penalty

The rationale for having a team’s best player take the first penalty is that it is important to start the shootout on a positive note.

Scoring the first kick sets the tone for the rest of the shootout and puts the other team under more pressure and of course, the best player is the team’s best chance of scoring that vital first kick.

The logic there is pretty plain and quite frankly good which is why criticism has fallen on Oshoala for waiting on the last penalty as it did on other stars in similar situations à la Cristiano Ronaldo.

Many also believe the decision to take the last penalty by the best player is more often than not fueled by selfish reasons such as glory hunting, a desire to grab the headlines by netting the winning spot kick rather than just doing what is best for the team by stepping up to take the first kick.

But that assessment may be unfair and untrue in some cases as sometimes, taking the last penalty kick as the star player is what is best for the team.

Why Asisat Oshoala waited to go last

The other side of the coin, somewhat in Oshoala’s defence is the simple fact that the last penalty is by far the most important one.

The stakes are highest in what is literally a make-or-break situation, one kick to either win or tie the shootout.

Not every player is built for such a win-or-bust scenario and admittedly, being the best player in the team does not automatically mean you are equipped to handle such pressure.

However, when the chips are down, any manager would prefer the team’s top scorer to carry the responsibility of the most important kick, even though it does not guarantee the goal, the player certainly increases the team’s chances.

Yes, it does look bad on Oshoala that she opted to wait for a penalty that might never arrive when she could have just stepped up to convert one and rally the troops as a result.

However, she still is just one person and the effect her penalty would have if it came earlier cannot be measured or accurately quantified so it made sense that she sought to control the situation by taking the most important kick, with her destiny completely in her hands.

In the shootout being used as the reference for this long-standing football debate, England started with Georgia Stanway, their designated penalty taker but she missed.

It only goes to show that there is no clear formula for these things, it can really work either way.

Ultimately, everyone must bear in mind that penalties are mostly down to luck and there are too many variables to be controlled.

A player who takes first or last does so with the intention to score and that is all that matters, neither action makes one of the other more of a team player.

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