It has been almost 18 months since we started HITC Sevens, and in that time we have never done a video covering women’s football. We have very occasionally had videos which featured female players, but never one explicitly covering the women’s game.
There have been plenty of requests for us to cover women’s football over that time, but my response was always the same, I simply don’t watch enough nor do I feel informed enough to cover the women’s game with the accuracy and interest that it deserves.
I’ve tried to watch more and more women’s football over the last year or so though, and now felt like a good time to give it a go. We’re doing the best female footballer from each continent since that is the best performing video we’ve ever had covering the men’s game.
I’ve no idea how this video will do. YouTube is a very male-dominated platform, and our own audience is 96% male. As always, if this video does well, we’ll try to do some more videos about the women’s game in the future. This particular video is based purely on current ability.
Here are our views on the best female footballer from each of the 7 continents:
Asia – Saki Kumagai
Starting, as always, with Asia, Saki Kumagai is the captain of the Japanese national team. Asian countries have enjoyed more success in the women’s game than they have in the men’s, and Japan have overtaken China over the last decade or so as the continents stand-out nation.
They caused a real upset at the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany when they beat the United States on penalties in the final to claim their first world title. Four years later in Canada, they met the USWNT in the final once again, losing out 5-2 on that occasion.
South Korea’s Ji So-yun and China’s Wang Shuang deserve to be mentioned, but Asia’s best female footballer right now has to be Saki Kumagai. The 28-year-old defensive midfielder brings an injection of class and energy to a midfield, and she had a fantastic year with both club and country.
A key cog in the Lyon side which won a domestic and Champions League double, she was Japan’s star woman as they won the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the second time. Having won her first cap for Japan at 17, Kumagai has reached a century of caps aged only 28, and she takes this one for us.
Africa – Tabitha Chawinga
Women’s football faces real struggles in Africa, in terms of both the sports image as being very masculine, as well as in terms of funding, which is always required to grow the sport and get women into the game.
Nigeria are undoubtedly the finest women’s team in Africa, both historically and right now, but they have been unable to replicate their dominance of the African game on the world stage.
Arguably the two finest female African footballers are strikers who play their club football in China, and we’ve given the nod to Malawi international Tabitha Chawinga in favour of Nigeria’s former Arsenal and Liverpool forward Asisat Oshoala.
Chawinga is among the most prolific goal scorers in the women’s game, having scored 123 goals in 87 games during her time in Sweden and 11 goals in 12 games since moving to China. An instinctive forward with raw pace, strength and such a sharp eye for goal, Chawinga is still only 22, and many people expect to see her back in Europe or playing in the States before long.
Europe – Amandine Henry
Amandine Henry of Olympique Lyonnais reacts during warmup before the Division 1 women match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Stade Jean-Bouin on November 18, 2018 in…
Many of you may have been expecting Ada Hegerberg take the title for Europe, since the Norwegian frontwoman recently won the first ever women’s Ballon d’Or. Hegerberg is a superb centre-forward, so strong and tough to dispossess, as well as being a real live wire in the penalty box.
Honourable mentions too, must go to the likes of Pernille Harder of Wolfsburg and both Lucy Bronze and Wendie Renard at Lyon, but the female footballer I have been most impressed in Europe is Amandine Henry.
Yet another Lyon player – it’s little wonder they had such a fantastic campaign – Henry is almost undoubtedly the finest midfielder in the women’s game. A fantastic character and from what we’ve seen the most important player in that Lyon side, Henry is a really complete footballer.
She’s good on the ball, neat in the pass and scores a remarkable number of goals from the centre of midfield, despite often operating from quite a deep starting position. This years league title with Lyon was Henry’s tenth, nine having come in France and one in the United States in 2017.
North America – Alex Morgan
Alex Morgan #13 of the USA celebrates after scoring a goal in the second half of the match against New Zealand at Nippert Stadium on September 19, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The USA won 5-0…
Despite having tasted little success in the men’s scene, North America and the United States in particular has long been seen as a mecca for women’s football, or ‘soccer’. Alex Morgan is probably one of the biggest names in women’s football, and quite rightly so.
Co-captain of the United States’ Women’s National Team, the 29-year-old has won a quite incredible 153 caps for her country to date, scoring 98 goals in the process. Smart and two-footed, Morgan is naturally best known for her goal scoring, but her all-round forward game continues to improve, making her a dream of striker to play alongside.
Other North Americans we have to mention include USWNT stars Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe and Crystal Dunn, as well as Canada’s prolific veteran centre-forward Christine Sinclair, who could soon overtake Abby Wambach as the all time leading goal scorer in women’s international football.
South America – Marta
Quite possibly the finest female footballer of all time, Brazil legend Marta may no longer be at her mind-boggling heights of the mid-late 2000’s, but she’s still the continents standout player in our eyes.
Recognised as an outstanding talent from a very young age, Marta began her professional career at the age of 14. Between 2006 and 2010, she won five consecutive FIFA World Player of the Year awards, a period of time which included spells in Sweden, the United States and Brazil.
This seven is about the here and now though, and right now Marta is 32, and she’s Alex Morgan’s strike partner at Orlando Pride. Marta hasn’t been quite as prolific in 2018 as previous years, but her flair, technique and intelligence on the pitch still make her stand out from a mile off.
Australia / Oceania – Sam Kerr
Sam Kerr of the Matildas celebrates a goal during the Women’s International match between the Australian Matildas and Brazil at McDonald Jones Stadium on September 19, 2017 in Newcastle,…
Whilst women’s football has struggled in Africa due its masculine image there, it’s quite the opposite in much of Australia and Oceania. In 2015, football – or soccer we should say to avoid any confusion – overtook netball to become the second most popular sport among girls in school in Australia, with some research suggesting it may even have overtaken swimming to take top spot.
The men’s game, meanwhile, tends to play second, third or even fourth fiddle in the region, facing competition from the likes of rugby union, Aussie rules and cricket.
Australia’s national women’s team has reached the quarter-final stage in each of the last three World Cup’s, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see them go one stage further in either 2019 or 2023.
From Lydia Williams to Emily van Egmond, Australia have some talented individuals at their disposal, whilst New Zealand’s star woman Abby Erceg is a rock at the back for North Carolina Courage in the NWSL. In truth though, picking Sam Kerr for Australia / Oceania was the easiest decision of the lot.
At the age of 25, she is one of the best female footballers on the planet. Bright, inventine and prolific, Kerr is quite possibly the most dangerous forward in women’s football right now. Following two fantastic seasons with Sky Blue FC, she joined Chicago Red Stars in January 2018, where she has since scored 16 goals in 17 games.
Antarctica – Susan Avalanche
Whilst our world famous men’s continents video, yes, I did just call it ‘world famous’, was dominated by forward players or wide men, there is a real mix of forwards and central or defensive midfielders here.
Susan Avalanche is a world class midfield enforcer. Capable of acting as a screen in front of a back four or in a slightly more advanced role, she is such a powerful and athletic presence in the middle of the park. Strong in the air and uncompromising in the tackle, Avalanche may not be as graceful as Tracy Chill or Nashita Ionosphere, but she’s the most effective player in the Women’s Antarctic Peninsula Premier League right now, and therefore our choice.
When manager Marcello Nippy brough Avalanche to Real Frozen Lake in January 2017, the club looked destined for mid table mediocrity, and their current status as one of the continents top three sides is thanks in no small part to their towering 9-year-old midfield colossus.
So that’s it for our first seven covering women’s football. Please do let us know what you think of the idea of us covering the women’s game more in the future in the comments, and any future video ideas you may have. As I said in the introduction, it’s basically a simple case of us trying to cover things that people want to watch, so if this video does well, there’ll almost certainly be more to come.
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