Osimhen, Oshoala in hot race to retain Pitch Awards titles

Reigning King of the Pitch and Queen of the Pitch, Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala, respectively, are in with excellent chances of retaining their awards at the ninth Nigeria Pitch Awards ceremony, which holds at the Great Margaret Hall of the John Woods Hotel, Abuja, on Friday.

At international level, his four goals against Sao Tome and Principe in a 2023 AFCON qualifier in Agadir, Morocco nine months ago, helped Nigeria to a record international win of 10-0.   The gangling young forward has recently won the Best Foreign Athlete and Player of the Month awards in Italy. He battles Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi and Paul Onuachu.   Oshoala, who features for FC Barcelona Femeni in Spain’s top division, scooped the Pichichi Award as the league’s joint-highest goalscorer with 20 goals, which helped her club win the league title. Her club also won the Spanish Super Cup. She is in a contest with Super Falcons’ team-mates Rasheedat Ajibade and Gift Monday.   There are 18 categories in all where winners will emerge on Friday night: King of the Pitch; Queen of the Pitch; Striker of the Year; Goalkeeper of the Year; Defender of the Year; Midfielder of the Year; Team of the Year; Coach of the Year; Sam Okwaraji Award; State With The Best Grassroots Football Development Programme; Football Pitch of the Year; Football-Friendly Governor of the Year; Corporate Sponsor of the Year; Sportsmanship Award; Football Journalist of the Year-Print; Football Journalist of the Year-TV; Football Journalist of the Year-Radio and; Football Journalist of the Year-Online.   The four media categories hold interesting prospects, with Mr. Kunle Solaja, honoured by football’s world-governing body at last year’s World Cup finals in Qatar for having covered