Chungwa basks in Golden Boot glory
For the first time, Chungwa finished the season as the league’s top goal scorer after netting 17 goals and he will walk away with the Golden Boot on Friday night at the Soccer Star of the Year awards banquet.
This is the first time the Makepekepe forward has won the award ever since he was signed from now-defunct Hippo Valley at the start of the 2013 season.
Chungwa was also selected to be among the 11 best players on the domestic scene and will also be honoured at Friday night’s shindig.
However, the Green Machine’s forward never expected to be in such a position at the start of the season.
“It feels so exciting to have won the Golden Boot,” Chungwa told the Daily News.
“Every player wants to achieve great things in their career and I’m glad that I have won this award. When I started the season I did not have any specific targets and all I wanted to do was help my team defend the league title and do well in the Champions League.
“I’m glad that the team did well in the Champions League and after a difficult start in the league, we also recovered to finish in fifth place.
“At the same time I also scored some crucial goals for the team which helped us achieve our targets.”
It was, however, not all rosy for Chungwa especially at the start of the season as he was behind Abbas Amidu in the pecking order while he also missed a number of good scoring chances whenever he got the opportunity to play.
“I had to work hard to be where I’m at the moment because there were times in some games that I did not do particularly well,” he said.
“After Abbas left, the scoring responsibility fell in my hands and I had to deliver. For some time, Abbas had been the main striker but it was now my turn to step up.”
Although he managed to regain his scoring touch especially in the second half of the season and ultimately help Makepekepe finish a credible fifth place, Chungwa admitted that it was a tall order in 2017.
“It was a difficult time but I would like to give credit to the players and coaches for working together to turn things around. It’s a job well done to everyone at CAPS because we had to play so many games this season.”
After his goal scoring heroics in the just-ended season, there are many reports that Chungwa might be on the move during this offseason.
“All I know is that my contract with CAPS is running out at the end of this year,” Chungwa said regarding his future.
“I have heard people talk about me moving to other clubs outside the country but the truth is that nothing concrete is in place. I’m just waiting to see what happens. I would gladly renew my contract with CAPS.”
While there seems to be no clarity regarding his future, one thing is certain — Chungwa will walk away with an award at the Soccer Star of the Year banquet this Friday.
“I would like to thank God for everything that He has done for me this season. This is my first time to win the Golden Boot and to make it on the Soccer Star of the Year calendar.” DailyNews
