11 April 2020 – For them, football has become second nature. Not just now that they all have their own professional careers, but from when they first held the round ball in their hands. The last four weeks or so have however been difficult for most of them.

It all started with a few matches being cancelled, then it rolled over to training being halted and now all over the globe, football has been held up indefinitely as the world battles to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

But even amidst all these disruptions caused by COVID-19, African football queens have tried their best to ‘remain sane’ and keep their focus and fitness in check as they patiently wait for a green light from health authorities to go back to the pitch.

On breaks, South Africa’s Janine Van Wyk has gone the fun way, with her pet also joining her session, slowly gliding through the slalom she’s placed at her backyard. The Banyana Banyana skipper was an integral part of the side that made it into the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time ever last June.

Her teammate Jermaine Seoposenwe is not left out and is seen going through drills at home with a surprise ‘dumbbell’ as part of urging people to stay at home and stay fit as well.

In Turkey, Kenya’s Esse Akida had just completed a move to defending champions Besiktas before football was stopped. With the stoppage, she has been training on her own at the club’s base and joining her mates in online team training sessions.

Barcelona and Nigerian forward Assisat Oshoala, current CAF Women’s Player of the Year, has meanwhile used the time out to connect to her fans and even has a live ‘Q and A’ session lined up. Even amidst that, she has been keeping fit with her own indoors training.

Teammate Francisca Ordega has also shared videos of her training at her home in Nigeria as the struggle to remain fit continued. At the same time, Ordega has showed off her culinary skills in several videos she has posted on her Instagram account.

Chinaza Uchendu shared videos of her trying out the toilet paper juggling challenge while also sharing her love for music with a video on her Twitter account singing along to popular Nigerian Musician Yemi Alade’s collaboration with Angelique Kidjo ‘Shekere’.

Just as France-based forward Desire Oparanozie on a workout session at home.

One of the few lucky ones to have football back is Malawian forward and skipper Tabitha Chawinga who turns out for Chinese Women’s Super League side Jiangsu Suning. With China now almost back to normal after defeating the virus, teams have been allowed to get back to training.

Chawinga posted a video on her Facebook page training with her Ghanaian teammate Elizabeth Addo, with smiles all over her face as they resumed field training.

To view all the videos, go to www.cafonline.com