Super Falcons and Racing Louisville striker Uchenna Kanu is delighted at her rehabilitation following a surgery on her left ankle two weeks ago, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The 27-year-old shared her excitement in a statement on her social media on Saturday, alongside a video that showed her trying to climb stairs, piling her weight on the left ankle.
“You ever smiled or found joy through your battles? Week two done. Thank you everyone for your prayers. We are making progress. Procedure successful. God is the greatest. Now let’s recover,” stated Kanu, who in an earlier statement stressed the need to finally subject the ankle to the doctor’s scalpel after playing through pains for a long time.
The Nigeria international is being sorely missed by her National Women’s Soccer League club, where she started seven of her 19 appearances in 2023, scoring her first club goal on May 31 against Chicago Red Stars in the Challenge Cup.
Kanu joined Racing after a stellar year at Tigres, where she rang up 20 goals in 30 appearances for the Monterey, Mexico-based club, helping the team claim Liga MX Femenil’s Torneo Apertura trophy.
Before her time in Mexico, Kanu impressed in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan, tallying 22 goals in 42 matches over two years with Linköpings FC. She scored 17 goals in the 2021 season, ranking second in the league.
She also spent part of the pandemic-impacted 2019-20 season in Spain with Sevilla FC, making six appearances for the Spanish club.
Kanu has seven goals in 20 appearances for Nigeria, including a sensational goal against the U.S. Women’s National Team in a September 2022 friendly and two more goals at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations.
She represented Nigeria at the 2019 World Cup in France, starting the Round of 16 match vs. Germany after coming on as a substitute in the Super Falcons’ three group-stage games.
At the 2023 World Cup, Kanu started three matches and appeared in a fourth for Nigeria, scoring a goal in the group stage against co-hosts Australia on the way to a round of 16 appearance.