Leemisa Thuseho
LDF top scorer Thabang Rabi says the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic robbed him of an opportunity to fulfil his target of winning the golden boot.
This after the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) last month resolved to prematurely end the 2019/20 Econet Premier League due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bantu were declared champions as they were league leaders with 50 points with eight games to go. Matlama was second on the standings with 34 points with eight games to go. Rabi had scored 13 goals which was just one less than Bantu’s Litšepe Marabe, who won the golden boot.
Last season, Rabi scored only nine goals and this was his first time to register double digits.
“At the beginning of the season, I told myself that I wanted to win the win the golden boot… and that was my target,” Rabi said on Friday.
“The way I started, I deserved the award and I was going to win.
“After scoring nine goals last season, my target this year was 20 goals or more.”
While admitting that the competition was tight, he believes if it wasn’t because of the Covid-19 pandemic, he could have won the golden boot.
Besides the Covid-19 pandemic, Rabi said an ankle injury he suffered mid-season negatively affected him as he missed four games due to the injury.
“The games that I missed were against smaller teams, so I could have scored more goals.”
Rabi congratulated Marabe, whom he said worked hard for the award.
“Marabe is my friend. We always talk and I congratulate him and his team for winning the league. They worked hard and deserved it.
“I will work hard to win this award one day. It’s my dream and will work hard to win the golden boot.”
LDF finished eighth and also reached the semi-finals of the yet to be completed Lesotho National Insurance Group (LNIG).
Rabi said he will not celebrate his individual achievements while the team struggled to reach its target of winning the league or finishing second.
“This was a tough season and we failed to reach our target. We wanted to win the league or at least come second. We failed to achieve the target and that means I also failed.
“However, I promise LDF supporters that we will bounce back and they should expect a different team next season,” Rabi said.
He also made an impassioned plea to the general populace to abide with the Covid-19 regulations to help the nation fight the virus.