Mngqithi’s faith fuels Junior Dion’s push for top scorer honours

Dion, an Ivorian-born footballer who has recently switched his allegiance to Chad, told Thabiso Mosia on Radio 2000’s Game On sports show earlier this week that Arrows head coach Manqoba Mbgqithi deserves all the credit for his rise this season. Ahead of their clash home game against Siwelele FC tonight, Dion says Mngqithi’s belief in his abilities drives him.

"This season, I think when I arrived at Golden Arrows, he told me a lot of things. I think he pushed me a lot," said Dion.

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Dion, who joined Arrows from AmaZulu at the beginning of this season and had also been at Marumo Gallants, has never been shy in front of the goal posts. Mngqithi even compared him to his former striker at Mamelodi Sundowns, Peter Shalulile, for his focus and addressed the areas

"I have been following this boy since he was at Jwaneng Galaxy in Botswana, We played against them whilst I was still at Sundowns, and I saw what he is capable of. I also saw his ability defensively," said Mngqithi

"I saw his ability in front of goal. He can score with both left and right; he is strong aerially. He works very hard, and in my team, I would put him amongst most professional players that I ever worked with. He is very close to what I would say about Peter Shalulile, to be honest, because the boy is always 20-30 minutes early for everything that we do."

"If you want to shake hands of the players, it's like he has made a commitment for himself that he should be the first one to greet the coaches. He is there in everything that we do, from a meeting to a pre-match meal or any meal that the team has; he is the first in everything, and with that mentality, there is no way he will not achieve what he has."

"What he needed to improve was him was just tactical orientation and the areas we want him to occupy on the pitch, because sometimes that is where most of the talent and most of the strikers are lost because maybe there is not much guidance on areas that they should always fight to occupy on the pitch."

Interestingly, Mngqithi says he’s always looked forward to working with Dion during his time at Jwaneng Galaxy in the Botswana Premier League. The 27year-old striker scored 14 goals in 47 matches at AmaZulu, 11 goals in 47 games at Gallants, and is now on 14 goals in 29 games overall at Arrows, for a total of 39 goals in 123 matches across all PSL competitions. He says he would be the happiest person alive if he could maintain his top goal-scoring spot at the end of the season.

Dion, who moved to Galaxy during the COVID period, is also a product of the famed Asec Mimosas in the Ivory Coast. He also reveals that he comes from a footballing family, with some of his family members having played the game as well.