Chipolopolo winger Chipyoka Songa is ecstatic after opening his goal account for the season earlier this week.
Songa opened his goal account for the season on Tuesday evening helping his side Hapoel Petah Tikva to a resounding win.
Songa netted a brace as Hapoel Petah Tikva cruised to a 3-0 win over Ashdod at the Ya’A Stadium in the Toto Cup.
The former ZESCO United and Lusaka Dynamos forward is overcome with joy at the prospect of scoring against the teams he used to watch when he was in the second division.
Songa and Hapoel Petah Tikva won promotion to the Israeli Premier League in April, barely a year after they were relegated.
“It feels good scoring against the teams you used to watch in the super league because that time I was playing in the second division. The level is different, the intensity, tactically and I feel very confident this coming season looking at how we have prepared as a team and how I have prepared personally and the goals I have set,” Songa told the ZamFoot Crew in an exclusive interview.
Last season in the Israeli second tier, Songa scored 8 goals and assisted 8 to help his team win the promotion
The former ZESCO United player has now set his sights on contributing positively to his team by scoring and assisting more.
Songa wants his side to push for a top four finish in the Israeli Premier League.
“I want to help my team positively by doing much better than I did last season, maybe try to give more assists and try to get more goals than I did last season,” Songa said.
“My target is to help the team to at least finish top four and play in the play offs of the Championship. I think those are basically the things I am looking forward to this coming season, trying to help the team positively and do better than I did last season.”
The Zambian international believes playing in the Israeli topflight against top players will help him and he won’t be the same player at the end of the season.
“It’s a very nice feeling, the atmosphere of the fans, the stadiums you play in now is much different and better and you get to play against top players, players that play for the Israeli National Team and other National Teams, It’s a very good experience and I know I won’t be the same at the end of the season, I will learn a lot,” he said.
Songa completed his switch to Hapoel Petah Tikva in May signing a three year deal after spending a season on loan from ZESCO United.
Prior to that, The Shamuel Academy product spent a season on loan at Nes Ziona where he had a fairly good season scoring 9 goals and providing four assists.
