{"id":1699,"date":"2026-10-27T10:30:50","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T10:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/27\/ballon-dor-barcelona-star-honours-late-nigerian-mother-after-winning-young-talent-award\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T10:30:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T10:30:50","slug":"ballon-dor-barcelona-star-honours-late-nigerian-mother-after-winning-young-talent-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/27\/ballon-dor-barcelona-star-honours-late-nigerian-mother-after-winning-young-talent-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Ballon d\u2019Or: Barcelona star honours late Nigerian mother after winning Young talent award"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Vicky<\/p>\n

Barcelona and Spain forward Vicky L\u00f3pez has paid an emotional tribute to her late Nigerian mother, Joy Felix, after winning the Women\u2019s Young Player of the Year award at the 2026 Ballon d\u2019Or ceremony on Monday.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder dedicated the honour to her mother, who died when she was 11, saying she continued to feel her presence despite her absence.<\/p>\n

\u201cMum, although you can\u2019t be with me physically, I feel your presence every day. Everything I\u2019ve achieved I owe to you, so thank you for teaching me never to give up,\u201d L\u00f3pez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to everyone in football and let\u2019s keep making this sport better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Barcelona star, whose father is Spanish and mother Nigerian, was born in 2006 in Vallecas, a working-class neighbourhood in Madrid.<\/p>\n

Her journey in football began at an early age, playing in the streets with her older brother, Jesus, when she was just four.<\/p>\n

Spanish football journalist Irati Vidal told BBC Sport that L\u00f3pez\u2019s style was heavily influenced by street football, where she developed the flair, agility and speed that have become part of her game.<\/p>\n

\u201cVicky learned her craft on the streets of Vallecas, her style is very street-influenced,\u201d Vidal said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe used to play for fun while admiring and trying to copy Neymar\u2019s dribbles.\u201d<\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez\u2019s latest recognition follows an impressive 2025-26 campaign in which Barcelona won Liga F, the Copa de la Reina, the Supercopa de Espa\u00f1a and the UEFA Women\u2019s Champions League.<\/p>\n

The award was her second consecutive Women\u2019s Young Player of the Year honour, having also won the inaugural edition in 2025.<\/p>\n

Beyond her club achievements, L\u00f3pez has set her sights on representing Spain at the 2027 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in Brazil.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think wearing the Spain shirt is a dream that all girls who play football have,\u201d she told Antena 3 Deportes.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, winning a World Cup with Spain would be one of the greatest achievements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her ambition is also tied to the memory of her mother, whom she has described as a major source of motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, my mother is everything. A goal I have in life is to make her proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Ballon d\u2019Or: Barcelona star honours late Nigerian mother after winning Young talent award<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barcelona and Spain forward Vicky L\u00f3pez has paid an emotional tribute to her late Nigerian mother, Joy Felix, after winning the Women\u2019s Young Player of the Year award at the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}