Maduka backs Letsoalo to win the golden boot
‘He’s capable of catching Shalulile’
Royal AM coach John Maduka has backed his player Victor Letsoalo to win the golden boot accolade ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns’ Peter Shalulile.
Shalulile now leads the scoring charts with 14 goals, three ahead of Letsoalo, who is odds-on to spearhead Thwihli Thwahla’s attack when they host Swallows at Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday (3.30pm). Maduka is optimistic Letsoalo can topple Shalulile, while urging him to concentrate on his own game.
“I would love to see Victor winning the golden boot. He’s a player that has been working very hard. He’s capable of catching Shalulile, I believe he can. We try as much as we can to avoid creating competition among our strikers but we all wish Victor to win it,’’ Maduka told Sowetan.
“I just wish him to stay injury free and stay focused. As much as we wish him to win the golden boot, it’s important that he focuses on himself rather than looking at what Shalulile is doing at Sundowns.’’
The Royal coach also feels the arrival of fellow striker Mxolisi Macuphu has invigorated Letsoalo. Macuphu, who joined Royal from TS Galaxy in January, has already netted three goals from the same number of league games for the KwaZulu-Natal side.
“We have great strikers that complement each other very well and the arrival of Macuphu added a lot of value. Macuphu pushes Victor to work even harder, not taking anything away from other strikers like [Ndumiso] Mabena and [Sedwyn] George who are also working very hard for the team,’’ said Maduka.
For their upturn in form, Maduka has credited their desire to compete and camaraderie among other elements. Royal have been emerging as one of the surprise packages of the season, having garnered 33 points from 20 games to occupy second slot in the table.
“We always want to compete, that’s what drives us. Everyone treats each other like a family in the team and we all work hard, so that’s why the team has managed to do well. The management has always been supportive as well.’’