Football · Super Falcons · No. 8
Desire Oparanozie
The striker whose late goal won the 2016 African title in Yaoundé.
- 4WAFCON titles
- 4World Cups
- 2014WAFCON Golden Boot
- 2016Winning goal in final
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Owerri
Ugochi Desire Oparanozie was born in Owerri, Imo State, on 17 December 1993. She started at Bayelsa Queens and won league titles with Delta Queens before moving to Turkey, Russia, Germany and France, where she captained Guingamp.
For Nigeria
Oparanozie played at four World Cups (2011 to 2023) and won African titles in 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2018. She won the 2014 Golden Boot, and her late goal beat Cameroon 1-0 in the 2016 final in Yaoundé. She captained the Super Falcons from 2019 and spoke up for equal pay.
Her four African titles came in South Africa (2010), Namibia (2014), Cameroon (2016) and Ghana (2018), and she scored in both the 2014 and 2016 finals. Her World Cups were Germany 2011, Canada 2015, France 2019 and Australia and New Zealand 2023, where she was named in Nigeria’s 23-player squad.
Retirement
She retired in September 2023, aged 29.
More Nigerian football
Football in Nigeria
Nigeria’s favourite sport and its national teams.Read more
History of Nigerian football
From the barefoot 1949 tour to Olympic gold.Read more
Super Eagles
Nigeria’s men’s team: 3 AFCON titles, 6 World Cups.Read more
Super Eagles at the World Cup
Every World Cup from USA 1994 to Russia 2018.Read more
Quick answers
Desire Oparanozie: quick answers
Who scored the winner in the 2016 AWCON final?
Desire Oparanozie, late in Nigeria’s 1-0 win over Cameroon in Yaoundé.