Super Falcons defender, Ashleigh Plumptre has been included in the Team of Round of 16 at the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup by popular statistics website, Whoscored.com.
The left-back was the only Super Falcons and African player who made the shortlist.
Plumptre put up an impressive display in the Super Falcons’ penalty shootout defeat to the Three Lionesses of England.
The 25-year-old played in all four of Nigeria’s games in Australia and Ireland and is a free agent following her release from Leicester City at the end of the season.
Plumptre qualified to represent the Super Falcons of Nigeria through her paternal grandfather.
“It’s always been an assumption that I’m white. I get a lot of messages and people question my heritage a lot, but I can’t necessarily blame them. It comes down to education.
“What people see is what they think. People don’t want to have the conversation or want to consider anything deeper than what they see.
“It’s putting a marker down. It’s not just what you predict a Nigerian to be. For me, I know the importance of representing something bigger than me.
“I’m representing the mixed-race community and especially for the younger ones coming through. You don’t have to look a certain way or be told you are a certain way, you can feel it and you can be it.”
The Leicester star also told the BBC that she started to consider playing for Nigeria after a heart-to-heart talk with her younger half-sister during the lockdown about racism, African heritage, and a culture.
Her decision stems from a desire for self-understanding,learning about her family and heritage.
“For me, it’s been a journey of self-understanding,” she adds. “Knowing more about my heritage, learning more about my family’s culture and ultimately trying to be some kind of sounding board for kids of mixed heritage.”
Plumptre decision is based on some deep connection with the black race and her responsibility to represent them, she told the BBC in 2022.
