I wanted to commit su*cide — Super Falcons captain reveals toughest part of her career in Europe

Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade spoke about her humble beginnings in a recent interview. She also touched upon a period in her life in which she suffered depression and contemplated suicide. 

The 26-year-old winger led the Super Falcons to their 10th WAFCON title a few weeks ago and has been lauded with cash, property and titles. 

However, her story has not always been one of success, as her upbringing was riddled with strife. In an interview with Chude, she did menial jobs at a tender age and played football for free for many years before making it to Europe. 

“I help them to wash the toilets and bathrooms, and I take the money, you know, like doing a – I call it ‘afole’,” she said. “I grew up mushin. We're living in like a compound of like almost 100 people.

“During that phase, when I was in Nigeria playing the professional league. The name of the team is the Robo Queens, but it was really a tough moment for me. I played there for 10 years without salary.

“Looking at my background, I'm never ashamed to tell people that I sold. I sold kunu. I sold Zobo.”

Ajibade made it to Europe in 2018, when she signed for Norwegian side Avaldsnes IL. Securing a move to a European club is usually a sign of an upturn in fortune, but for Ajibade, it was two years of depression.

“I was sick. I was injured. I couldn't play well during all of this. I've been so lonely. It was very lonely,” she said.

“I was 17 or 18; I knew that I was depressed. Most of the time, I'm thinking of either I don't want to play football again. I felt like I just wanted to be slum and die or maybe just thinking about, you know, suicide.”

Rasheedat has been very expressive about her Christian faith, and in this interview, she said that religion helped her through that difficult time.