The vice president of Malawi, Saulos Klaus Chilima has praised striker Frank Mhango for winning the South African Premier Soccer League’s (PSL) top scorer award and becoming the first Malawian to win the award.
Mhango plays for South African giants, Orlando Pirates and he shared the golden boot award with Peter Shalilile of Highlands Park’s.
In a statement released by the office of the vice president, Chilima said Mhango’s achievement is not for the player alone, but for the country.
“He must keep on working hard and dreaming big. The sky is the limits,” Chilima said.
Mhango has thanked Chilimo for his words of encouragement and “for recognizing my achievement”.
“Serious?… Well it means a lot to me and I thank him for recognising my achievement.”, the striker said.
The striker was the league’s top scorer between November 2019 to the start of February 2020, scoring 14 goals after fantastic performances.
He went on to score two more goals at the restart of the league after the coronavirus enforced break, both goals coming in Orlando Pirates last two games of the season as his side finished in third place on the PSL table.
Mhango also admitted that it was not easy for him to pick up from where he stopped when asked about his goal drought.
“Even when the chips were down, I kept my head up. It was not easy though and there were times I felt really bad.”
“My coach and my teammates were very supportive and kept on encouraging me not to lose hope.
“I told myself that I had to fight on to the very end and when I scored the lone goal against Maritzburg United, I knew it could be the turning point.
“But I also knew that the last game would be decisive because all the contenders, especially Shalulile would be out to score,” he said.
Also, Malawi’s Netball star based in Australia, Mwawi Kumwenda took to Instagram to praise the achievement of Mhango for winning the PSL golden boot.
“Well deserved. You inspire a lot of young people out there. Keep the spirit. Let’s do this again next season,” the Malawi netball star wrote on her Instagram page.
Asides, Siyabonga Nomvethe’s 20 goals scored in the 2011/2012 PSL season, Mhango’s 16 goals is the joint highest goal scored in a 30-game league season.