Full name Genoveva Añonma Nze Number 26 Height 1.65 m | Playing position Years Team Weight 62 kg | |
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Date of birth (1989-04-19) 19 April 1989 (age 27) Place of birth Cogo, Equatorial Guinea Current teams Equatorial Guinea women's national football team (Forward), Portland Thorns FC (#8 / Forward) Awards African Women Footballer of the Year | ||
Genoveva Añonma Nze, also known as Ayo, (born 19 April 1989) is an Equatoguinean footballer who plays as a striker for Atlético Madrid in the Spanish Primera División, and captains the Equatorial Guinea national team.
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Club career
Añonma played in her country and South Africa before signing for Bundesliga team USV Jena in 2009. She was the team's top scorer in both seasons she spent in Jena. Following the 2011 World Cup she signed for defending champions Turbine Potsdam. She became the first foreigner to win the Bundesliga top-scorer award when she scored 22 goals in the 2011–12 season. In 2012, she was named African Women Footballer of the Year.
On 24 February 2015, it was announced that Añonma signed for the Portland Thorns for the 2015 National Women's Soccer League season, joining after the completion of that year's World Cup. She was waived by Portland Thorns FC in October 2015. In 2016 she played for Suwon FMC WFC in the South Korean WK-League.
International career
Añonma was part of the Equatorial Guinea football team that won the 2008 African Women's Championship at home and finished runners up in South Africa two years later. After the 2010 African Women's Championship final, Añonma and two other Equatoguinean players had been accused of being male by opponents. Añonma rejected the allegations and was shown by a gender test to be female, wherein she was required to strip naked to demonstrate her gender.
She played in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, scoring Equatorial Guinea's only two goals in the tournament, in a 3-2 loss against Australia. She was included in the All-Star Team, becoming the first African player to earn this distinction. She won a second African Women's Championship in 2012, again at home.
