“My parents hit me when I was playing soccer, and one day I challenged them…”

Tabitha Chawingain front of PSG The 27-year-old, recently named the best soccer player in the league, talks about his difficult beginnings as a player in Malawi, his country of origin. He does this in an interview with ‘Le Monde’, where he says that “my parents hit me when they saw me playing soccer.” He is now a top scorer and best player in Sweden, China and Italy.

“I was always attracted to goals and I worked hard for it, but when I was little I started as a goalkeeper,” he explained, saying that he had a very difficult time “In my country it is not accepted for girls to play of soccer. It’s a sport for boys. “My parents wouldn’t let me play: ‘No, it’s not for you,’ they told me. ‘You can play basketball, if you want.’

“Every time I went to play soccer, my father and mother would beat me when I came back. I didn’t give up. I once challenged them: ‘Okay, if you want me to stop playing soccer, that means you will stop whipping me.’ “We tried… It was two or three days before I played football again,” he admitted. “I faced a lot of difficult situations in Malawi. I don’t care because my goal is to succeed. I come from a poor background and I want to be someone who can help his family.”