BOITUMELO RANTAO
SOUTH African international striker, Ode Fulutudilu has agreed to become the newest addition to reigning Scottish League champions Glasgow City.
The 30-year-old joins from Finnish side Aland United where last month she helped her side lift the League and Cup domestic double, becoming champions for the first time in seven years.
The prolific striker is a pioneer for African football. Fulutudilu was only three years old when her family left an unstable Democratic Republic of Congo for neighbouring Angola, but the Southern African country was far from safe and it meant they made the move further south to Cape Town, South Africa.
“Angola also proved to be dangerous as the civil war there started to get pretty bad. My stepmother, my sister and I flew to South Africa in 1994, but my father initially stayed behind to work and earn money for the family,” said Fulutudilu
Fulutudilu was a star in the making, a superhero discovered at 14 years old with a passion and a dream made real.
The Banyana Banyana Striker’s quest for stardom took flight in the semi-professional Sasol League, yet she always strived to compete at a higher-level.
This ambition saw her search for a team overseas to increase her profile and standard of play, with the help of a foster mother who shared her love of football. “My foster mother knew my desire of wanting to study and play football in America,” Fulutudilu said.
“She emailed four universities in the United States, but only Lee University responded. After they saw a short clip of me playing, they wanted to sign me right away.”
“In my four years there we won two national titles and three regular season titles. The environment was extremely competitive and really gave me a platform to grow as a player,” she added.
The journey proved fruitful as Fulutudilu received her first national call-up in 2014, and was a part of the historic South African side who debuted at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals in 2019.
After starting all three matches at the World Cup in France she would find herself teaming up with her Banyana Banyana teammate and former captain Janine Van Wyk at Glascow City.
The newly signed striker spoke exhilarated at joining the Scottish outfit, “I am really excited about this opportunity of joining such a club as Glasgow City. I am looking forward to playing my part in contributing to the future of the club and giving my all for the future success of the club.”
Glasgow City Head Coach Scott Booth said, “Ode is a player who has an incredible ability to stretch the opposition. Her pace will cause teams a huge headache and she is hungry to score goals”.
“Ultimately, she brings experience, a fantastic work ethic, modesty and a huge cutting edge. I am very pleased with how the squad is shaping up”, Booth added.
Fulutudilu will wear the number 9 on her jersey for the Scottish side.
