Golden boy Chungwa delighted
CAPS United hitman Dominic Chungwa is delighted to win the Golden Boot award after netting 17 goals.
His nearest rivals Dynamos’ Christian Ntouba Epoupa and Black Rhinos’ Lot Chiwunga scored 12 goals each.
Although the Green Machine failed to defend the championship after finishing a distant fifth, they provided another top goalscorer this season after Leonard Tsipa who ended the campaign with 11 goals last term.
Chungwa yesterday said he was happy to win the award. He said his aim was to contribute to the cause of the team and did not set a target for himself.
“I am happy to win the Golden Boot award. You know this is the dream of every striker. But I never set a target for myself,” Chungwa said. “My only motivation was to contribute to the team. You remember I had not been playing at the start of the season so when I was given a chance, I said to myself, I should grab the opportunity and contribute to the team. My target was not to be the top goal-scorer, but I was motivated by the desire to see the team winning. Our aim was to defend the championship, but, unfortunately, we couldn’t manage that. I am happy that in the end, I finished as the top goalscorer.”
Chungwa has for the better part of the season been the subject of derision from the team’s faithful each of the few times he got opportunity to play. Most of the times, particularly during the first half of this season and the majority of the last term, he always cut a despairing figure, sitting almost dejectedly on the bench.
But the injury to and subsequent retirement of last season’s Golden Boot winner Tsipa as well as the departure of Simba Sithole, Abbas Amidu and Ronald Chitiyo, left Caps United desperate, which opened up a window of opportunity for the striker.
He defied odds to step out of the shadows and claim his place in the limelight with a string of good performances. He soaked all the pressure that comes with the responsibility of leading Caps United’s attack, driving himself to become a striker any coach would want in his team.
From the dead, Chungwa suddenly developed those traits characteristic of most top forwards of getting into the right position at the right time. He went on to win the Golden Boot award, something that was unthinkable as he struggled for game time in those trying times.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
