By Mabvuto Kambuwe in Johannesburg, South Africa
Malawi National Football Team star striker Temwa Chawinga has a chance to break the record of the most goals scored in single edition at this year’s Hollywoodbets Cosafa Women’s Championship underway in Gauteng, South Africa.
Temwa is on course for the honour after scoring seven goals in just two matches.
She started with a hat-trick in a 4-3 win over South Africa before netting four in an 8-0 demolition of eSwatini.
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Most likely, she could have scored more in the last Group A match against Madagascar but missed out on the chance after coach Lovemore Fazili rested her as a precautionary measure ahead of today’s semifinal against Mozambique.
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Temwa is just five goals away from pulling level with the competition’s all-time top goal scorer Noko Matlou of South Africa who holds the record with 12 goals netted over five matches during the 2008 edition.
Other players who have drawn closer to Matlou’s achievement are Rutendo Makore of Zimbabwe and the Zambian duo of Rachel Nachula and Barbra Banda who scored 10 goals each in a single edition.
Makore and Nachula made it during the 2018 and 2019 edition, respectively, whereas Banda achieved the feat last year as Zambia won their first ever title.
Temwa’s chance lies in the fact that she still has two matches to play.
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But the talented forward said her focus is on helping the team to win and not individual glory.
“What is most important to me is winning the Cosafa Cup. My focus is not on winning individual awards. Far from it,” she said.
Temwa has already broken her sister Tabitha’s record in the Chinese Women’s Super League this season, having scored 43 goals for Wuhan Jiangda in all competitions.
In that country’s league, she has netted 22 goals and is the leading scorer with two golden boot awards already in the bag this year.
The awards come from her winning of the Chinese Football Association top scorer with 15 goals and the Chinese National Cup with six goals.
Last season, Temwa won the golden boot award in the league with 10 goals.
The Scorchers superstar moved to China after scoring 59 goals in 57 matches for Swedish side Kvarnsvedens.
