At 27, Tabitha Chawinga has made a big impact wherever she has been. In Sweden, China and Italy, and now in France, where she has been delighting PSG for a season. Originally from Malawi, a country where it has long been frowned upon for a woman to play football, the striker has never given up on pursuing her dreams as a footballer. In the group to face Lyon in the Division 1 final, Friday May 17 (9 p.m.) in Décines-Charpieu (Rhône), despite muscular discomfort, the top scorer, recently elected best player in the French championship, returns to World his eventful journey.
Despite PSG being 11 points behind OL in the regular season, you have a chance of winning the title in a final. Is this unexpected, when the dynamic seems in favor of the Lyonnaises, who have just beaten you twice in the European semi-finals?
It’s a great moment for PSG and for me. We want to win the championship, this is our chance. We are going to win this trophy, we can make history by winning the Cup-Championship double [Paris a remporté la Coupe de France, le 4 mai]. Yes, we lost against them recently, we even lost in ten minutes on the first leg. [mené 2-0, l’OL a marqué à la 80e, 85e et 86e]. But we learned from our mistakes.
Did you know about this women’s football rivalry between Lyon and Paris?
I knew it was a sort of “French derby”. Everyone talked to me about OL when I arrived. Against this team, it’s always a very interesting match. It’s a whole new level when you play Lyon, probably the highest level matches of my life. This is a team that has won so much in the Champions League [huit titres européens].
You are the top scorer in the championship (18 goals) and you have been voted best player twice during two ceremonies, the Division 1 and UNFP trophies. Is this recognition that touches you?
Yes, I was also top scorer and best player in Sweden, China and Italy.
Is this normal for you?
[Sourire.] This is both normal and not normal. But I insist, it is my teammates who allow me to be the heroine by scoring goals. It’s thanks to them that I can score so much, they always push me to do better.
Is your sense of purpose a natural quality?
I have always been attracted to scoring and I worked hard for it. But when I was a little girl, I started as a goalkeeper. Then I played any position on the field. To then start training in shooting and developing this goalscoring quality.
Are you keeping track of all your goals?
I never checked how many goals I scored since the start of my career [plus de 300 réalisations depuis ses débuts en première division malawite]. Since I played in Italy and now in France, I pay a little more attention [26 buts avec l’Inter Milan et 28 avec le PSG].
You grew up in a village in northern Malawi where playing football is not intended for little girls. But you persevered despite your parents’ opposition…
At that time, I was in my village. And there it is not well accepted that girls play football. It was a sport for men. My parents didn’t allow me to play: “No, it’s not for you. You can play netball [variante féminine du basket-ball] If you want. »
Every time I went to play football, my father and mother beat me when I came back. I never gave up. Once I challenged them: “OK, if you want me to stop playing soccer, that assumes you stop hitting me. » We tried… It lasted two or three days before I started playing again.
You have already described being forced to undress twice on the pitch to prove that you were a girl, under pressure from opponents. You faced all these painful experiences with determination.
I faced a lot of difficult situations in Malawi during the matches. I didn’t care because my goal was to succeed. I come from a poor background. I wanted to become someone who could help their family. That’s why I never gave up, I never gave up. I always looked ahead, towards my future and what I was convinced I would achieve one day.
At 18, you left Malawi to join a Swedish third division club on your own…
An American, Melisa [Krnjaic, ancienne joueuse de haut niveau qui travaillait pour une ONG au Malawi et qui a joué au Sunshine, le club de Chawinga], believed in me and put me in contact with a Swedish club, where she had played. The president of my club, Mr. Dumbe, who was also our coach, took care of getting me a visa and paying for the plane ticket. That man is dead now, and I wish he could see what I achieved. Even when he was sick, he told me: “I believe in you Tabitha, one day you will be a great player. That’s why I sent you to Sweden. »
And you disembark in Dvärsätt, a town of a few hundred inhabitants, located in the north of the country. What did you feel ?
I was shy, a little scared. It was my first trip abroad, the first time I was going to live alone. I knew I would face a lot of challenges. I didn’t speak English well. I didn’t see any black people, anyone who spoke my language. It was difficult, but I stayed focused.
The team adopted me immediately. By joining this club in the third division, my goal was to put myself forward to play in a big club. As soon as I arrived, I asked my teammates if Marta [attaquante vedette brésilienne qui évoluait en première division suédoise à l’époque] played in the same championship as us. I was extremely motivated. I wanted to one day face the best, like her.
In 2018, you are leaving for China, in the city of Nanjing. Your journey is that of a globetrotter. How do you manage to adapt so easily every time?
When you play football you have to travel a lot. Today I am here, tomorrow I will be in another country. I said to myself : “Okay, I’m going to China. » I knew I had to be strong and continue to improve. It was a big city, very populated, but I met a second family. There were foreign players [notamment Elizabeth Addo, attaquante ghanéenne]. I met Jocelyn Prêcheur [son entraîneur au PSG, qui l’a coachée aussi en Chine]. It was good for me.
You are only on loan from your current Chinese club (Wuhan). PSG wants to keep you but you are in high demand in England and the United States. Where does your future lie?
PSG is a good club. It was my dream to play one day for Paris Saint-Germain, a renowned club in Malawi. This is the high level and I dream of continuing to play there. I think I will play in Paris again next season.