WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Super Falcons’ star, Michelle Alozie balancing cancer research and football
Super Falcons defender Michelle Alozie talks to FIFA about her dual passions of medicine and football
Being a professional athlete is tough. It involves long days, large amounts of travel, and the physical toll that comes with pushing your body to the limit.
Strenuous, too, is medical research. Spending long hours poring over papers. Conducting countless trials that may or may not yield useful results. Keeping up-to-date with the ever-changing world of medicine.
Now imagine doing both.
That is the reality for Super Falcons defender Michelle Alozie, who spends her morning training with Houston Dash in the NWSL and her afternoons at Texas Children’s Hospital as a research technician studying acute leukemia and cancer.
“I’ll probably be done with training around 1pm,” she explained to FIFA. “I’ll head straight to the children’s hospital, get there around 1.30pm, probably have our team meetings, and then just go about my day until about 5pm.”
A dual passion
Alozie’s genuine love of both football and medicine shone throughout the interview. Passion is the reason that she is able to sustain two careers at once.
“It’s crazy to think about,” she explained. “It’s not necessarily a field that I thought I was going to find myself in but it is so amazing to be able to have an impact on children’s lives. Childhood cancer isn’t something that’s researched that much. Being able to be a part of that and be a part of that research is just such a blessing.
“I have a passion for helping people. Thankfully biology was something that I was really good at in school and so medicine just seemed like the correct option there. Again, it’s just amazing to meet these young kids that I’m helping find a cure for their cancer. It means everything to me.”
The defender explained that she was born to play football, but grew to love medicine.
“I have been playing soccer since I was four or something like that and, being Nigerian, soccer, or football, is really just in our blood,” she said, smiling. “But I just have this fascination with medicine and I know it’s a career path that I would love to be in when I can’t run on the field anymore.”
Balancing act
Needing to find time for more than one career is a situation familiar to so many female athletes. Doubt does creep in on occasion for Alozie, but she never forgets her ‘why.’
“I think sometimes I might feel like I’m not doing enough for either soccer or in my research lab,” she reflected, “but I think I’m overall just really grateful. I know that it’s two of my passions and what makes it really worthwhile is that I just love doing both of them. So being able to do them simultaneously, thankfully with both of my jobs, it’s amazing and really just a blessing to be able to live my passion and my childhood dream.”
Of course, it has not always been easy for the Nigerian international, who is determined not to let down her coaches or Dr Alex, her boss at Texas Children’s Hospital.
“I think at first it was definitely a little bit difficult to balance the two,” she admitted. “But honestly, just growing up being an athlete, we learn to balance pretty young in life. It was kind of easy after a while.”
Will there come a point where the defender has to choose?
“In the next few years I’m not really sure – the role isn’t something you’re in for a long time – but I just know that I want to be in medicine and continue that career once I’m done with my soccer career.”
Don’t call me doctor!
Michelle Alozie obtained a Bachelors Degree in Molecular Biology from Yale University. Her degree has given her the skills to conduct her work as a researcher, but it doesn’t give her the right to be called a doctor… yet.
Not that it stops her team-mates from coming to her with their medical issues.
“I feel like any time something happens, if there’s a little injury, if someone gets knocked, if their stomach hurts, they come to me!” she laughed. “I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m not a doctor, I actually don’t know what’s going on internally with you!’”
That doesn’t mean that studying medicine and obtaining the title of doctor is off the table. On the contrary, it is very much in her long-term plans.
“I’m definitely going to play soccer until I literally cannot run anymore! I know medical school will always be there and it will definitely be there when my bones are brittle,” she grinned.
“Hopefully in a few years they can actually call me Dr Alozie. But now I just need to be Michelle.”
-FIFA
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Flamingos Set for Morocco 2025 as Nigeria’s U-17s Depart Abuja for Final World Cup Preparations
Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, will depart Abuja in the early hours of Wednesday, October 8, as they begin the final leg of preparations for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup scheduled to take place in Morocco.
The team will travel aboard Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca, Morocco’s industrial and economic hub, where they will set up camp ahead of the tournament.
During their stay in Casablanca, the Flamingos will step up their build-up programme with two high-profile international friendlies — first against New Zealand on October 10, and then Paraguay on October 14.
Following their training camp, the team will move into the official FIFA hotel in Rabat on October 15, joining other participating nations as the countdown begins to the global showpiece.
Drawn in Group D, Nigeria will face Canada, France, and Samoa in what promises to be a competitive group. The Flamingos will begin their campaign against Canada on Sunday, October 19, before locking horns with France three days later.
Both matches will be played at the Football Academy Mohammed VI in Sale, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. Nigerian time. Their final group match comes against Samoa on October 25, starting at 5 p.m., also in Sale.
Head Coach Bankole Olowookere’s side heads into the tournament brimming with confidence after a remarkable build-up.
The Flamingos have played 10 tune-up games, scoring an impressive 44 goals without conceding any, a record that highlights their attacking prowess and defensive discipline.
Olowookere has expressed optimism about his team’s readiness, noting that the squad’s balance and form give them belief they can surpass their quarter-final finish at the last edition in the Dominican Republic.
With a perfect preparation run and growing momentum, the Flamingos will be aiming to make history in Morocco and bring pride to Nigerian women’s football once again.
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Nigeria’s U17 Women’s National Team, the Flamingos, are rounding off their preparations for the 2025 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco with a string of dominant performances that underscore their growing confidence and team chemistry.
In a remarkable build-up campaign, the Flamingos have played eight friendly matches in Abuja, winning all and maintaining a perfect defensive record. The team has scored 26 goals without conceding, a run that has lifted morale and heightened expectations ahead of their World Cup challenge.
Last week, the team showcased their attacking prowess with a convincing 3–0 victory over Abuja All-Stars.
Praise Agba opened the scoring from a loose ball, Olamide Olanrewaju doubled the lead from the penalty spot, and Zainab Raji sealed the win with a thunderous strike shortly after the restart. Goalkeeper Sylvia Echefu was outstanding between the sticks, producing several key saves to preserve another clean sheet.
Earlier, the Flamingos overcame a rain-disrupted clash against Josiah Academy, running out 2–0 winners courtesy of a Chisom Nwachukwu brace within the opening 10 minutes before the downpour forced an early end to proceedings.
The girls also recorded emphatic wins over Nazareth Angels (5–0), with Queen Joseph bagging a brace and goals from Praise Agba, Mariam Yahaya, and Chisom Nwachukwu; and Horvel Prime (5–0), where Joseph netted a first-half hat-trick, while captain Shakirat Moshood and Azeezat Oduntan added one apiece.
Across all their tune-up matches, the Flamingos have demonstrated an impressive balance — clinical in attack, disciplined in midfield, and solid at the back — as they fine-tune for global competition.
Drawn in Group D alongside Canada, France, and Samoa, Nigeria will depart for Morocco on October 8, aiming to carry their perfect form into the tournament, which runs from October 17 to November 8.
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Nigeria’s U20 women’s team, the Falconets, continued the country’s dominance over Rwanda on the international football stage by securing a 1–0 victory in Kigali on Sunday in the first leg of their 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup second-round qualifier.
The narrow win comes against the backdrop of two recent triumphs by the Super Eagles over Rwanda in the men’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying series, underlining Nigeria’s growing hold in encounters with the East Africans.
At the Kigali-Pele Stadium in Nyamirambo, both sides battled fiercely in a goalless first half, with chances at a premium. The breakthrough arrived in the 70th minute when Alaba Olabiyi bundled the ball home from a goalmouth scramble after a Falconets corner. The strike proved enough to hand Coach Moses Aduku a winning start in his first competitive game in charge of the team.
With the victory, the Falconets carry a slim but valuable advantage into the return leg at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan, on Saturday, where they will be backed by home support as they push for a place in the next round of qualifiers.
The team’s delegation is expected back in Nigeria on Monday morning to begin preparations for the decisive clash.
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