|
While men's club football has been put on hold for the FIFA World Cup, November was a busy month for the women's game in Europe and Africa. Apart from domestic leagues continuing, the CAF Women's Champions League (CAFWCL) came to a conclusion and the UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL) group stage is heating up. Barcelons's Asisat Oshoala is slowly beginning to get back to her best, while the Chawinga sisters continue to impress for their sides. Meanwhile, there is also room in our rankings for some of the stars from the CAFWCL. 1. Racheal Kundananji, Madrid CFF Racheal Kundananji has seen more game time than most on this list, with Spain's Primera Iberdrola going ahead at full steam, and she has made the most of every minute. Kundananji picked up braces in wins over Real Sociedad and Córdoba in November, also notching an assist for Florencia Bonsegundo in the 3-2 defeat to Sporting de Huelva. Although she is an established international for Zambia at 22, Kundananji's impressive career has at times been overshadowed by the larger-than-life presence of her Copper Queens teammate, Barbra Banda. However, that began to change when she hit a run of fine form at the end of her stint with Eibar last season. She has carried that over to her new club, scoring seven times in 10 league appearances this season. Madrid sit sixth in the Primera Iberdrola, and although Barcelona are breaking clear of the pack, Kundananji's side is part of a group fighting for UWCL spots.  2. Tabitha Chawinga, Inter Milan Chawinga drops to second place in the rankings on account only of her reduced minutes in November as she only featured in one league match -- a 2-2 draw with Parma in which she scored the equaliser. The Malawi star has now scored seven goals in as many Serie A appearances for Inter this season. For this reason, it would not be reasonable to remove her from the power rankings entirely on account of a month in which she had few chances to impress but delivered when called upon. Inter sit third in Serie A with five wins, four draws and one defeat from their opening 10 games. 3. Temwa Chawinga, Wuhan Jiangda The younger Chawinga sister is doing her best to keep pace with her older sibling and former Wuhan Jiangda teammate in the Chinese Women's Super League (CWSL). Temwa finished the CWSL season as the top scorer as Wuhan secured their third successive title. She ended the campaign on 10 goals, only narrowly surpassing the eight goals her sister had amassed before departing for Inter Milan. 4. Asisat Oshoala, Barcelona As always, Barcelona look unstoppable in the Primera Iberdrola and not far off from it in the UWCL, and Oshoala is beginning to return to her brilliant best after a year plagued by injury. However, a key obstacle in her way at the moment is the stiff competition for places within the Barcelona XI. The Super Falcons star did manage to score in starts against Levante Las Planas in a 4-0 win, and against Deportivo Alavés in an 8-0 walkover. Her record this season stands at a respectable three goals in 410 Primera Iberdrola minutes, as well as two against Benfica in a 9-0 UWCL thrashing in October. 5. Barbra Banda, Shanghai Shengli Banda has had a somewhat frustrating year from a personal point of view, having missed plenty of action due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, while also missing the AWCON amid controversial testosterone tests. Nevertheless, Banda did manage to contribute to the team this month, even scoring in a 3-2 win over champions Wuhan Jiangda before going off as an injury precaution. Despite averaging close to a goal contribution per appearance this season, Banda was unable to steer Shanghai to glory as they finished the league season in fourth place. 6. Fatima Tagnaout, ASFAR Tagnaout was awarded Best Player at the CAFWCL tournament, which her team, ASFAR won with an emphatic 4-0 win in the final over last year's champions, South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns. The 23-year-old Morocco international midfielder scored three times in the tournament, including the opener in the final. Her other two goals came in the 2-1 group stage win over Zambia's Green Buffaloes. ASFAR finished with a perfect record due to wins against Simba Queens (Tanzania) and Determine Girls (Liberia) in addition to the COSAFA qualifying champions. 7. Ibtissam Jraïdi, ASFAR Equally important in ASFAR's run to CAFWCL glory was Jraïdi, whose hat-trick in the final sunk Sundowns' hopes of a comeback. Furthermore, the three goals against the team from Tshwane ensured that Jraïdi, a 29-year-old Morocco international forward, finished the tournament as the top scorer with six goals. Another crucial one was her match-winner against Nigeria's Bayelsa Queens in the 1-0 semi-final triumph. The others came prior to that in the group stage wins over Simba Queens and Determine Girls.  8. Lelona Daweti, Mamelodi Sundowns Daweti was pipped at the post in the race to finish the CAFWCL as the top scorer, but she nevertheless had a commendable tournament with four goals for Mamelodi Sundowns. The 23-year-old forward netted a crucial brace in the 2-1 group stage win over Bayelsa Queens, opened the scoring in the 5-0 win over Wadi Degla and was then on the scoresheet in the 4-0 triumph over TP Mazembe. Sundowns looked likely to defend their title after they edged out Simba Queens 1-0 in the semi-finals, but red cards to Rhoda Mulaudzi and Zanele Nhlapho in the final against ASFAR ensured they were left without a way back into that game. 9. Khadija Er-Rmichi, ASFAR Er-Rmichi received the Best Goalkeeper award for her efforts at the CAFWCL with the 33-year-old veteran Morocco shot-stopper finishing the tournament with only one goal conceded. This was a welcome taste of personal success for Er-Rmichi, who started Morocco's 2-1 defeat to South Africa in the Africa Women's Cup of Nations (AWCON) final in July. It was every bit as significant for Moroccan football as a whole that an ASFAR side featuring so many internationals was able to convincingly dethrone the defending champions in the CAFWCL final. 10. Ode Fulutudilu, Fleury 91 Fulutudilu, a fantastic player for Banyana Banyana upfront over the years who has fallen out of favour recently, appears to have recaptured her form at just the right time with next year's World Cup around the corner. The 32-year-old, who was born in Kinshasa, took on a new challenge this season, signing for Fleury 91 in the French top flight, a highly competitive league. It took some time for her to fight her way into the team, but she finally scored her first goal for the club in a very competitive league on November 5, netting the third goal in a 3-0 win over Le Havre. Fleury sit fifth in the Division 1 Féminine and are in the race to qualify for the UWCL after narrowly missing out of qualifying at the end of last season.
|
