* She caps a prolific year by also been named in the Italian women’s league’s Best XI
* She also won the Serie A Femminile’s Golden Boot with an outstanding 23 goals in 2022/23 league season
Maravi Express & CAFonline
Malawi Scorchers captain, Tabitha Chawinga has left a stunning and indelible legacy in Italy by being named Women’s Player of the Year — a prestigious award from Italian Footballers’ Association.
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She has also capped a prolific year by also been named in the Italian women’s league’s Best XI after also winning the Serie A Femminile’s Golden Boot with an outstanding 23 goals in 2022/23 league season.
The 27-year-old, who is currently on loan with French club Paris St Germain played for Inter Milan on loan from Chinese side, Wuhan Jiangda before leaving Italy for another season-long loan to French powerhouses Paris Saint-Germain.
By scooping the Italian Women’s Player of the Year accolade — voted for by peers — Tabitha further underlined her lethal attacking credentials across a stunning individual season and after conquering the Italian, the nomadic striker enjoyed boneless form adapting swiftly to French football.
Tabitha’s award came during a ceremony where Nigerian Victor Osimhen collected the men’s honours after firing Napoli to glory with 26 strikes.
Meanwhile, Tabitha and Osimhen were nominated for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Player of Year awards, being the 5th time the sensational Malawian has been nominated for the prestigious accolade.
She was nominated alongside her sister, Temwa — who steered the Malawi Scorchers to their first-ever international title when they won the 2023 COSAFA Championship
Temwa was stand-in captain for the Scorchers as she remained in France to honour her team’s assignments that included the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Temwa Chawinga
Temwa, who plays for Wuhan Jiangda in China alongside her sister Tabitha, was a revelation as stand-in captain at the 2023 COSAFA Championship where she was voted Player of the Tournament and won the Golden Boot as well as two Player of the Match accolades.
Malawi Scorchers were also nominated among 10 countries for the National Team of the Year alongside Zambia, whom they beat 2-1 to lift the 2023 COSAFA Championship.
Other countries nominated for the award are South Africa; Tanzania; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Ghana; Morocco; Nigeria and Senegal while the Scorchers COSAFA mentor, Lovemore Fazili was nominated for the Coach of the Year.
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SSC Napoli’s Victor Osimhen was nominated for the African Player of the Year alongside last year’s winner, Senegal’s Sadio Mane (Al Nassr); Egypt’s Mohammed Sallah (Liverpool); Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain); Riyad Mahrez (Algeria, Al Ahli); Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon, SSC Napoli); Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon, Besiktas); Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco, Manchester United); Yassine Bounou (Morocco, Al Hilal) and Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco, Sevilla).
The Women’s African title, whose Awards Gala will take place on December 11 at the Palais des Congrès in Marrakech, Morocco, has eluded Tabitha for four times — each against Nigerian star Asisat Oshoala.
Her football career commenced at her Lilongwe-based club, DD Sunshine while her international club career began in 2014 when the forward made a move to Sweden, starting at the third-tier Krokom/Dvärsätts IF for a year before ascending by joining Kvarnsvedens IK.
She left an indelible mark on the 2015–2016 season, concluding it as the league’s top scorer with an impressive tally of 43 goals, simultaneously propelling her team to the upper echelons of Swedish women’s football.
In 2018, she embarked on a new chapter, joining the ranks of Chinese side Jiangsu LFC and her stellar performances garnered consecutive Chinese Women’s Super League Player of the Year awards in 2018 and 2019.
The year 2021 witnessed Tabitha’s move to Wuhan Jianghan University before a loan spell with the prestigious Italian club Inter Milan.
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