“Do you know what I really enjoy doing in England? Going to Nando’s.”
Khadija Shaw’s footballing journey has taken her halfway around the world, from her origins in Jamaica to the land of fish and chips, steak and kidney pie and bangers and mash. In the end, though, a South African chicken chain has most caught her attention since joining Manchester City in June 2021.
“I remember having a chat with [captain] Steph Houghton,” the goal-getter chuckles now. “She said, ‘Have you ever tried Nando’s?’ I was like, ‘What’s that?’ She told me I had to try it, so I went home to my uncle and told him I wanted to go to Nando’s!”
If moving to a country where some of her relatives already lived “five minutes down the road” was pretty handy, the prevalence of peri-peri chicken was quite the bonus. No such eateries – cheeky or otherwise – existed at her previous club Bordeaux. The franchise doesn’t even exist in France, nor in Jamaica.
Known to most people as ‘Bunny’ because she loved eating carrots as a child – her older brother Kentardo gave her the nickname – what Shaw soon discovered at Nando’s was a culinary revelation every bit as satisfying, fiery and marinated to perfection as her own Manchester City career. The centre-forward plundered 26 goals in the first 22 games of her second City season – a club record for a single campaign, including four in an FA Cup romp at Bristol City. By early March, her strike rate bettered men’s talisman Erling Haaland. That’s peri-peri good company to keep, eh?
Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
NINE REASONS TO BE EXCITED FOR COPA AMERICA
Family feuds, Bielsa's return and an Icelandic dentist - it's all been going on ahead of South America's biggest tournament hosted by, er, the USA. Oh, and Messi's going to be there as well...
30 GREATEST PUNDITS EVER
FFT rates the finest opinion offerers in the history of UK television, via Del Boy, Space Jam and Donald Trump...
"TERRY VENABLES PUT HIS FAITH IN ME AT EURO 96 - I COULDN'T LET HIM DOWN"
Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Michel Platini have more goals at the Euros than Alan Shearer's seven - the forward hit five on home soil to secure the Golden Boot in 1996, and tells FFT why he found form at the perfect moment
HOW DID I FEEL AFTER SCORING NINE GOALS IN FIVE GAMES AT EURO 84? TIRED!
Forty years ago, Michel Platini's Euros-record tally propelled France to glory on home soil... and he wasn't even a forward. No player has ever had a finer European Championship - now, in his own words, he recalls it to FFT
WHY ENGLAND COULD TAKE THE HANDBRAKE OFF AT THE EUROS
Gareth Southgate has been labelled a cautious coach in recent major tournament near-misses - in Germany he might just be more adventurous, which brings risks but also potential reward
GEORGIA ON THEIR MIND
A Frenchman, an Englishman and a local genius walk into a Caucasus country to qualify for a first major tournament - is this a joke? Not for Georgia, who are dreaming big
SYIVINHO KING OF ALBANIA
The former Arsenal defender was an unexpected appointment last year, but he guided the Balkan nation to Euro 2024 - and now he tells FFT that he wants to spring another surprise...
CAPITAINE LEADER LEGENDE
Kylian Mbappe wrote his name into history at successive World Cups. Now France's captain and desperate to break his Euros goal drought, can he make it to the Berlin final and succeed where Zinedine Zidane failed 18 years ago?
JUDE AWAKENING
Three years ago, Jude Bellingham briefly became the European Championship's youngest ever player - now, after a superb debut season at Real Madrid, he's ready to make a greater impact
VIVA RONALDO
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal career was as good as over when he was dropped at the last World Cup - instead, CR7 goes to Euro 2024 as their main man once more, aged 39. Will this be the end, and can he make one last pitch to be considered the greatest?