FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
My confidence is building, says Bordeaux player of the month Khadija Shaw
JAMAICAN striker Khadija Shaw has started her second season in the French Division One Women’s League in fine form for her club Bordeaux.
She was named the Player of the Month for October after she netted seven goals and had one assist, and her good form extended into the month of November.
The Reggae Girl’s goals have helped her team to third place in the 12-team league, and Shaw was delighted to pick up the Player of The Month Award for the first time. She did thank her teammates for the role they played in her individual success.
“You wanna work hard and put yourself in positions where you know you can achieve things. Luckily for me the award was just a single person award, but I think if it wasn’t for my team that wouldn’t be possible, so credit goes out to my team as well.”
The 23-year-old admitted to needing time to adjust after moving from the United States, to playing in Europe last season.
“I think the first year I didn’t really know what to expect, knowing that the culture is different, so I came to France with an open mind. I think after playing my first season and having a feel for what the league is like, I think I gained more confidence as the games went on, so I think I just brought that throughout the end of last year [season].
“The US is more physical, there is more speed… while in France it’s more technical, passing, having possession, build-up play, so I think that was the big difference for me.”
Finding the back of the net has helped to boost her confidence, Shaw admitted, as she has relished leading the line for her club.
“You have to adapt everywhere you go, the environment is different. So just observing helped, as well as scoring goals, you build your confidence, so every game you go out you just wanna do that.”
Shaw scored the game-winner for Bordeaux in their last game against Paris FC which took her tally to a league-leading 11 goals and is hoping that her team will keep a winning momentum going against Soyaux today.
“Getting a confident result against Paris FC helped to build our confidence. It’s always difficult to play against Paris; we played them twice last year and we came out on top. It was a good momentum build because if we had lost that game it would have been difficult mentally to try to approach the Soyaux game.”
Bordeaux are third in the league on 17 points and have won their last three games, which is bettered only by league leaders, Paris Saint-Germain (Women).