adminThe former CAPS United hitman leads the race among the players that KickOff experts believe could fill the big shoes left by such lethal yesteryear forwards like Daniel Mudau, Raphael Chukwu and Wilfred “Silver Fox” Mugeyi.
Mushekwi has not really enjoyed many starts since joining Mamelodi Sundowns in the 2010/11 season.
And neither does his name appear in the current scoring charts as he has only scored two goals this season. But, according to the latest edition of the KickOff magazine, his excellent games-to-goals scoring ratio is better than any other player plying his trade in the Absa Premiership today.
Kaizer Chiefs forward, Lehlohonolo Majoro, is second with a league career of 59 starts and 40 goals while Zambian international, Collins Mbesuma, who returned to South Africa after a stint at Portsmouth is third with 72 goals from 129 starts.
Zimbabwe international strikers, Cuthbert Malajila and Kingstone Nkatha, are also ranked among the league top net busters, Nkhatha with a PSL career of 54 starts and 26 goals while Malajila has a PSL career of 31 starts and 13 goals.
These statistics, however, will make a mockery for Mushekwi’s current season, where he has just managed to score two goals in the five starts he got in the first half of the season.
Under the former Dutch coach, Johan Neeskens, the former CAPS United striker, got five starts only, in the first half of the season, and managed to score just two goals.
This ratio also paints a gloomy picture for players at the Pretoria side, who are the league’s biggest spenders, as the club often assembles a galaxy of stars who, in turn, fail to command regular jerseys.
Sundowns players are not even featuring on the scoring charts as only players who have scored four or more goals are featured.
While Mushekwi can be proud of his good scoring record, this season he has watched from the sidelines as his fellow Warriors’ teammates, Malajila and Nkhatha, battle for the Golden Boot award.
Former Dynamos striker Malajila is in a strong position for the award as he is one goal shy of joint leaders Kaizer Chiefs’ Bernard Parker and Moroka Swallows’ Katlego Mashego, after scoring nine goals for Maritzburg United.
Malajila is a regular at his modest club and has featured in almost every match this season playing alongside veteran Bafana striker Delron Buckley.
Kaizer Chiefs’ Nkhatha is in fifth position with his goals’ tally of seven.
Interestingly, Amakhosi, have three of their strikers in the race for the Golden Boot award with Parker leading the scoring charts with 10 goals, alongside Swallows’ Mashego, while Majoro has eight goals.
The Absa Premiership still has six more matches to go before the season ends and anything can still happen with any one of these top strikers claiming the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot Award.
While for Chiefs players it would be chasing glory from two fronts, with the league title within their grasp, a player like Malajila is only battling for the individual awards as his club are not in the race for the title and could, at best, secure a Top Eight finish.
Online Reporter