Tabitha maintains 2nd position on ESPN rankings

Malawi Women’s National Football Team captain Tabitha Chawinga says she is excited to have maintained position two of Africa’s second-best woman footballers in ESPN sports channel’s monthly rankings for December 2022.

Chawinga who plays as a center forward in Italian Women Serie A’s Inter Milan Women Football Club comes second to African Women’s Footballer of the Year Nigerian Asiat Oshoala.

In an interview, Chawinga congratulated Barcelona women’s forward Oshoala for reclaiming the top spot of the standings.

“I think Oshoala has also done really well and deserves her place on the top. I thank God for His blessings and I will keep on working hard,” she said.

In a statement, ESPN says Chawinga continued with her fine form, inspiring her team Inter Milan to victories.

“Malawi star Chawinga continued her fine form in December, scoring twice to secure a 2-1 win over Pomigliano. Chawinga has scored nine goals in as many Serie A Women’s games since joining Inter from Wuhan Jiangda, also notching four assists in the league,” reads a statement by ESPN.

On Oshoala, ESPN says the star has rediscovered her fine form after recovering from an injury.

“This month’s Power Rankings sees an old-timer [Oshoala] return to the top of the standings, while players based in England, Portugal, Italy, and France are rewarded for their work, as well as some of the usuals plying their trade in Spain,” reads part of the statement.

Spain-based Zambian Rachel Kundananji who topped November 2022 rankings has dropped to third, while Tabitha’s sister, Temwa Chawinga who was in third position in November misses out on the top 10 in the December rankings.

The Wuhan Jiangda striker, who won the golden boots for the Chinese Women’s Super League and Chinese National Cup said it is not surprising that she is out of the top 10 because the Chinese Super league concluded in November.

Tabitha Chawinga who is on loan from Chinese women’s football club Wuhan Jiangda leads the scorers’ chart with nine goals, and her team Inter Milan is in position 4 with 22 points in 12 games, 8 points adrift league leaders AS Roma who have 30 points.