Ballon d’Or Nomination Will Inspire Me To Work Harder – Magudu

Super Falcons coach Justine Madugu has revealed that his nomination in the prestigious Ballon d’Or award will motivate him to work harder.

Madugu led the Super Falcons to an historic 10th WAFCON trophy in July after the team defeated Morocco 3-2 in the final.

Subsequently, he was nominated in the Women’s coach of the year category in the 2025 Ballon d’Or awards.

He will battle it out with Chelsea Women’s Sonia Bompastor, Arsenal Women’s Renee Slegers, Brazil Women’s Arthur Elias, and England Women’s Sarina Wiegman.

Madugu has vowed to use the nomination as a fuel to inspire him to work harder.

He said: “I was still savouring the joy of winning the WAFCON trophy and being voted the best coach of the tournament when I was told of my nomination for the Ballon d’Or Best Coach Award in women’s football.

“It came as a surprise, but I took it as a challenge, with hope that more hard work will take me and other African coaches to the pinnacle of world football.

“It is not easy to be nominated amongst the best five coaches in the world – it’s no mean feat. Win or lose, it will definitely inspire me to do more. Credit first goes to the Nigeria Football Federation President, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, and his executive committee members for giving me the opportunity to showcase my coaching ability.”

Madugu was full of praise for the players, and the coaching crew for the team’s success.

He said: “My players and technical crew deserve credit for playing to instructions and giving me the necessary support to win the trophy.

“There is also the backroom staff, who worked assiduously day and night to ensure that the atmosphere in camp was conducive and that we lacked nothing in Morocco.”

Aftermath of the triumph in Morocco, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rewarded each member of the crew with a sum of $50,000, national honours, and houses.

Madugu expressed his appreciation to the President for the reward.

He said: “We appreciate President Tinubu for his wonderful gesture. The rewards will spur other Nigerian teams to deliver, and by doing so, we shall see improved performances from both teams and individuals in future competitions.

“I have to thank our First Lady, Mrs Remi Tinubu, for her words of encouragement during the tournament. She called us before or after every game to psych us up and pray for our success.

“The girls were always in high spirits after the First Lady’s calls, and that explains why they were able to cruise all the way to win the trophy.”

The 2025 Ballon d’Or will be the 69th annual ceremony of the Ballon d’Or, presented by France Football, recognising the best footballers in the world in the 2024–25 season.

For the fourth time in the history of the award, it will be given based on the results of the season instead of the calendar year. This is the period from 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025.

The ceremony will take place on 22 September 2025.

Ballon d’Or Nomination Will Inspire Me To Work Harder – Magudu is first published on The Whistler Newspaper