Tabitha Chawinga will be the star striker for Malawi when they make their debut at the women’s Africa Cup of Nations.  

Tabitha Chawinga’s last season ended in a flurry of goals for her French club Olympique Lyonnais as they hammered Paris FC 5-0 on the final day of the campaign, but two strikes for the 30-year-old Malawian attacker saw her narrowly miss out on the Golden Boot.

Chawinga is among Africa’s most exciting footballing exports and has already had a stellar year, finishing the Ligue 1 campaign with 13 goals as the second highest scorer but more importantly making it all the way to the UEFA Women’s Champions League final.

Lyon were handed a 4-0 hammering by Barcelona in the decider in Oslo, but Chawinga’s appearance was only the second by an African in arguably the biggest match in women’s club football.

The other is the Nigerian ace Asisat Oshoala, who scored the consolation goal for Barcelona when they lost 4-1 to Lyon in the 2019 final and two years later became the first African woman to win the competition with Barcelona.

Chawinga is regarded among the deadliest strikers in women’s football, and her goal tallies are astonishing. When she first went across to Europe to Kvarnsvedens IK in Sweden, she scored 43 goals in 25 starts in her first season to win promotion for her team, and then a further 40 goals in 44 starts over the next two seasons.

That earned her a lucrative move to China and a chance to provide for her family. She was Player of the Year in her debut season in the Chinese Women’s Super League and got to play alongside her younger sister, Temwa. 
Tabitha went on loan to Inter Milan and then signed for Lyon two seasons ago. The French club has won eight Women’s Champions League titles, double the tally of the next on the list, Barcelona. That is evidence of the prestige nature of the move. 

Chawinga’s success has come despite considerable adversity, particularly the traditional norms of rural Malawi, where women competing in sport are not always encouraged.

“My mum beat me because she was embarrassed,” Chawinga explained. People would provoke my mum: “Look at your daughter-maybe she will not be married in the future. Your daughter, she doesn’t want to go to school.”

“Even my friends said: “No women can play football in this world. But now I’m very happy because there are many African people waking up and opening their eyes.” Chawinga is modest in her assessment of her ability. “Maybe I’m a good striker, but I’m still learning a lot. Without my teammates, I’m nothing,” she says.

“I need my teammates to give me the ball, and I need to assist my teammates as well. Being a top striker isn’t always about the goals; it’s how you contribute to the club, to the other players.

“Maybe we focus our minds on scoring ourselves. If one day I don’t score, but l assist, it will be really good for me to be a top striker.” 

Words: Mark Glesson
Photography: Adam Davy/BackPagePix