Goal-hungry striker regains his appetite

Until March, when he suffered an injury that ruled him out for three months, Ranga Chivaviro was the talk of the town in the national First Division (NFD) where he was scoring goals for fun for the division’s strugglers Ubuntu Cape Town.

At that time Chivaviro was one goal behind the division’s then leading top scorer. He had just scored twice when he had to be stretchered off.

He made an almost miraculous recovery and was back to play in Ubuntu’s last four matches. “I was supposed to be out for 12 weeks and that meant the season was going to finish without me having come back. But after eight weeks I had started jogging again.

“The injury was kind of a setback because it happened when I was on 11 goals. I think everything happens for a reason and I think that was just God’s hand because even if I had scored 20 goals, if it was not his will for me to play in the Absa Premiership, it wasn’t going to be.”

The 25-year-old is now hoping to continue his scoring form at his new club Baroka FC where he has signed a three-year deal.

“Baroka showed interest in me since December last year. When the season ended we talked and I agreed to join them,” he said.

His coach Wedson Nyirenda is also new to the Bakgaga set-up and the fact that the Zambian was a striker in his heyday gives Chivaviro the confidence that he will be well equipped to fight for the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot.

“My coach knows what needs to be done and he knows a lot of things about strikers. You need to be on top of your game each day. I have learnt a lot from him. His man-management has been quite helpful and I can see it bearing fruit in my game,” said the forward.

“One of my goals is to be up there with the top goal scorers with a better conversion ratio. I strongly believe that with the supply and the hard work that we are putting in now, I can do it. I think that I will be able to be up there contending for the golden boot,” Chivaviro added.

Last season Baroka started superbly but crumbled when the going got tough. Chivaviro wants to inspire the Polokwane side to build on the performance that saw them leading the pack in the Premiership before falling all the way down to the relegation dogfight.

“The whole thing they went through with the new players was part and parcel of what happened last season. If you look back, Baroka won the Q1, that’s how good they were. I think the only problem that they had was being consistent.

“This season that is all we are about, we’ll try and emulate what the team did in the first round and and take it into the second round and we need to have some consistency and not go through what happened last season,” said Chivaviro.

My coach knows what needs to be done and he knows a lot of things about strikers. You need to be on top of your game each day. I have learnt a lot from him. His manmanagement has been quite helpful and I can see it bearing fruit.