Wasila Diwura-Soale
Personal information
Full name Wasila Diwura-Soale[1][2]
Date of birth (1996-09-01) 1 September 1996
Place of birth Tamale, Ghana
Height 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Hasaacas Ladies
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Navarro Bulldogs 36 (30)
2019 Lamar Lady Cardinals 4 (0)
2020–2022 LSU Tigers 59 (5)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 Hasaacas Ladies
International career
2012–2013 Ghana U17 6 (0)
2014–2016 Ghana U20 6 (1)
2016– Ghana 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 November 2021

Wasila Diwura-Soale (born 1 September 1996) is a Ghanaian footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Ghana women's national team.[3][4] Diwura-Soale played for Ghana at U-17 level in 2012 and was part of the Black Maidens squad that placed third at the 2012 World Cup in Azerbaijan. She also featured for the Ghana U-20 team, the Black Princesses, at the 2014 and 2016 World Cups in Canada and Papua New Guinea respectively.[5]

Club career

Diwura-Soale started her professional football career with Ghana Women’s Premier League club Hasaacas Ladies. During her time with the club, she won the league in three consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015.[6] During her time she played along players like Jennifer Cudjoe, Janet Egyir, Elizabeth Cudjoe and Lily Niber-Lawrence.[6]

College career

In 2017, Diwura-Soale moved to the United States at the back of her performances with the Ghana U20 at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. She joined Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, for head coach Alicia Wilson. Wilson convinced Diwura-Soale to pursue a degree as part of her preparations into going professional after she had wanted to pursue a professional football career right away.[7] In her first season, she accumulated 36 points in the as she scored 12 goals including 4 match winning goals and made 12 assists in 17 games.[8]

The following season, she improved on her previous season by accumulating 52 points through 18 goals including 5 match winning goals and 16 assists in 19 games to help them reach the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).[9][10] Her most notable performance was on 5 September 2018 when she scored five goals and made three assists in a 11–0 victory over Northeast Texas.[11] In her two-year stint with the Bulldogs, she was a two-time, NJCAA First Team All-American,[12][13][10] making her only the third Navarro player in history to earn that honour.[11] In total she accumulated 88 points, scored 30 goals, nine game-winning goals and made 28 assists in 36 games in her two seasons at Navarro.[7][11] In May 2018, she made Navarro College spring President’s and Dean’s Lists for her academic achievement.[14]

Lamar Lady Cardinals, 2019

After two seasons with Navarro, she transferred to Lamar University where she joined the Lamar Lady Cardinals in 2019.[5] She had a good start at Lamar by starting in the first four matches and providing one assist however her season was curtailed after she picked up an injury that side lined her for the rest of the 2019 season.[7][11] During her recovery period she considered quitting football.[7]

LSU Tigers, 2020–2022

In May 2020, she transferred to Louisiana State University and joined the LSU Tigers team, becoming the first African football player to play for the Tigers.[7] She made an immediate impact on the team in her first season, playing 19 games whilst making 4 assists, the highest on the team.[15] In August 2021, she graduated from Louisiana State University with a bachelor's degree in humanities and social science.[10][16]

International career

Youth

Diwura-Soale made her youth debut for Ghana for the under-17s in 2012.[5] In October 2012, Diwura-Soale was part of the Ghana under-17 team who finished in third place by beating Germany in the third place match at the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan.[16] At the competition she played five out of the six games.[17]

In 2014, she was part of the Under-20 team that played at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada.[16][5][18] The following year, Diwura-Soale played a key role in 2015 African U-20 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, helping Ghana to qualify for the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea.[19][20] She made the final squad for the world cup and played in all three group stage matches as Ghana were eliminated at that stage.[17][16]

Senior

In July 2016, Diwura-Soale was called up to the senior team by Yusif Basigi for a friendly match against Germany.[21] On 22 July 2016, she made her debut for the Black Queens in a humiliating 11–0 defeat to Germany, she started the match, played 51 minutes before being substituted for Mary Essiful.[22] After a four-year national hiatus, Diwura-Soale earned a call up to senior national team in July 2021 ahead of the Aisha Buhari Cup and 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations qualifiers against Nigeria.[23][4][24] She played the first match of the Aisha Buhari Cup against South African women's national team on 17 September 2021, which Ghana lost by 3–0.[25][26]

Honours

Hasaacas Ladies

Ghana U17

Individual

  • NJCAA First Team All-American: 2017, 2018[10]

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Papua New Guinea 2016 – List of Players: Ghana" (PDF). FIFA. 21 November 2016. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  2. ↑ "Dec 2022 Graduates List – Ghana, Accra: College of Human Sciences & Education". Louisiana State University. 16 December 2022. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  3. ↑ Amoh, Rosalind K. (13 September 2021). "Black Queens in Lagos for Aisha Buhari Tournament". Graphic Online. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Black Queens coach calls 38 players for camping". www.ghanafa.org. Ghana Football Association. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Ghanaian female footballer Wasila Diwura-Soale makes waves in US football". GhanaWeb. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "Ghana Women's Football League: Hasaacas retain league title". Africanews. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Koch, Kirby (27 October 2020). "Soccer is Everything to Wasila Diwura-Soale". LSU. LSU Athletics Communications. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Wasila Diwura NJCAA 2017 Profile". NJCAA. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "Wasila Diwura NJCAA 2018 Profile". NJCAA. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "LSU's New Graduate: Diwura-Soale Will Play In Fall". Navarro Bull Dogs. 13 August 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Wasila Diwura - 2019 - Women's Soccer". Lamar University Athletics. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "2017 NJCAA Division I Women's Soccer All-America Teams". NJCAA. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "2018 NJCAA Division I Women's Soccer All-America Teams". NJCAA. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  14. ↑ "Navarro College announces spring President's and Dean's Lists". Corsicana Daily Sun. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 "Wasila Diwura-Soale Roster Profile". LSU. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Appiah, Samuel Ekow Amoasi (16 August 2021). "Black Queens midfielder Wasila Diwura-Soale graduates from Louisiana State University". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  17. 1 2 "W. Soale - Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  18. ↑ Shardow, Ameenu (12 July 2014). "Princesses leave for U20 Women's World Cup - African Football - Ghana - Women". African Football. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  19. ↑ "Black Princesses secure vital away victory over Equatorial Guinea". www.ghanafa.org. Ghana Football Association. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  20. ↑ "Ghana's Princesses shine past Equatorial Guinea into final round". CAFOnline.com. CAF-Confedération Africaine du Football. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  21. ↑ "Germany to host Queens July 22". Graphic Online. Graphic Communications Group Limited. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  22. ↑ "Germany vs. Ghana Match Report". Soccerway. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  23. ↑ Teye, Prince Narkortu (13 July 2021). "Awcon Qualifier: Former Germany U19 striker Beckmann gets Ghana call-up for Nigeria showdown | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  24. ↑ "Diwura-Soale Headed To Ghana Senior Nationals Camp". Navarro College Athletics (Navarro Bulldogs). LSU Sports Information. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  25. ↑ Twaiah, Martin (17 September 2021). "Aisha Buhari Cup: Portia Boakye, Opoku Sonia Start as Mercy Tagoe names strong Starting XI to face South Africa". Ghana Sports Page. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  26. ↑ "Aisha Buhari Cup: This is how we line up against South Africa". www.ghanafa.org. Ghana Football Association. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
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