Young Africans (Yanga SC) forward Fiston Mayele has admitted striker Saidi Ntibazonkiza of rivals Simba SC gave him heartache while chasing for the Tanzanian Premier League Golden Boot Award.
At one time, Mayele was leading the way to claim the gong but Ntibazonkiza surfaced to give him a race of his time, including his five goals for Simba in the 6-1 demolition of Polisi Tanzania.
At the end of the season on Friday, Mayele and Ntibazonkiza tied on 17 goals each and the winner of the Golden Boot award is yet to be decided with the Awards Committee of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) promising to solve the puzzle soon.
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“Of course, it was something I did not expect…and from nowhere, he [Ntibazonkiza] surfaced and this brought a real challenge to me,” Mayele said as quoted by Daily News.
“For me, I was busy with Caf Confederation Cup matches where I focused a lot and by that time, I had 16 goals while those behind me had 10. This made me relax without knowing that my former teammate [Ntibazonkiza] will challenge me.”
About his future at the Jangwani Street-based side, Mayele said: “Only God knows what will happen in the future, but for now, I have a contract with Yanga which I must honour.”
Mayele and Yanga have another opportunity to win another trophy when they take on Azam FC in the final of the Azam Sports Federation Cup at Mkwakwani Stadium in Tanga on Monday.