Gift Monday

Gift Monday
Personal information
Full name Gift Nyakno Monday
Date of birth (2001-12-09) 9 December 2001 (age 22)
Place of birth Akwa Ibom, Nigeria
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 UD Tenerife
Number 24
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 COD United Amazons 25 (18)
2018–2021 FC Robo (13)
2021–2022 Bayelsa Queens
2022– UD Tenerife 27 (5)
International career‡
2018–2020 Nigeria U20 3 (0)
2019– Nigeria 10 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 December 2022

Gift Nyakno Monday (born 9 December 2001) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish Liga F club UD Tenerife and the Nigeria women's national team.

Club career

In January 2021, Monday was named the league's Player of the Month for the second consecutive month.[2][3] In March 2021, Monday scored a brace to lift FC Robo to a 2–1 win over the undefeated Rivers Angels.[4] Monday inspired Bayelsa Queens to winning the 2021–22 league title and also finished as the season's top scorer.[5]

In September 2022, Monday joined Spanish Liga F club UD Granadilla Tenerife.[6]

International career

Monday competed at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in France. In 2019, she captained the national team to its first gold medal in 12 years at the African Games after defeating Cameroon 3–1 on penalties.[7][8] In February 2021, Monday was named to the senior national team squad ahead of the 2021 Turkish Women's Cup. She was part of the team that won the championship and was the first African team to do so.[9] She scored the eighth goal in the team's 9–0 win over Equatorial Guinea.[10]

On 16 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player Nigerian squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.[11]

Honors

Individual
  • NWFL Premiership Player of the Month: December 2020,[3] January 2021[2]
  • NWFL Premiership Player of the Season: 2022
International

References

  1. ^ "Profile of Gift Monday". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Gift Monday Receives Nigeria Women League Player Of The Month Award". Afrinews247. 7 January 2021. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "NWFL Premiership Player and Manager for December Revealed". NWFL. 4 January 2021. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Monday Gift inspired FC Robo ends Rivers Angels unbeaten run". Kick442.com. 18 March 2021. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Gift Monday gifts Bayelsa Queens NWFL Premiership Super Six title". The Punch. 22 May 2022.
  6. ^ Tope, Adefala (5 September 2022). "Gift Monday joins Tenerife from Robo Queens". SportsRation.
  7. ^ "Know Your NWFL Players: Gift Monday of FC Robo Queens". Kick442. 6 May 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  8. ^ Saliu, Mo (2 September 2019). "African Games champion Monday Gift dreams Falcons debut". footballlive.ng. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Nigeria 9-0 Equatorial Guinea: Super Falcons clinch Turkish Women's Cup in style". Goal.com. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Equatorial Guinea 0 Nigeria 9 : Barcelona's Oshoala Nets Four, Sevilla's Payne". Allnigeria.com. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  11. ^ Ryan Dabbs (14 June 2023). "Nigeria Women's World Cup 2023 squad: most recent call ups". fourfourtwo.com. Retrieved 20 June 2023.