Battle for Div 1 honours continues Ethiopia, Rwanda get second Chan chance
THE battle for a top four finish in the Southern Region Division One League continues tomorrow with Bosso 90 and Zim Leopards squaring off at Luveve Stadium.
The incentive to finish within the top four is the right to play in the John Landa Nkomo Memorial Cup whose other two slots have been taken by champions Bulawayo Chiefs and second-placed ZPC Hwange. Chiefs and ZPC Hwange played to a 0-0 draw at the weekend.
Hwange-based Makomo edged closer to securing their slot in the Liquor Hub sponsored
Cup by beating Mosi Rovers 2-0 to move into third position with 40 points from 24 games.
The Bosso 90 and Zim Leopards match was moved to tomorrow as the former were in Botswana for Francistown’s 120-year celebration where they beat Tafic Sporting Club 2-0.
Bosso 90 are in fourth place with 39 points, three ahead of fifth–placed Zim Leopards.
“Our focus is on winning the game and ensuring that we go into the final weekend of the league having already secured the right to play in the top four competition. We know Zim Leopards are a tricky side, but we are ready. Everyone is raring to go,” said Melusi Sibanda, the Bosso 90 coach.
Mbongeni Ndlovu, Brian Jaravaza and Onwell Gombami are some of the players expected to carry the day for Bosso 90.
Leopards’ manager Leonard Sibanda, whose side suffered a 1-0 home loss to ZPC Hwange last Wednesday, also said they are ready for Bosso 90.
“We also want to be in the tournament and the players understand the importance of being among the region’s best. So far we have enjoyed a good run in our first season and we want to cap this fine performance by playing in the cup,” he said.
Players to watch at Leopards tomorrow include the defensive duo of Lee Matizirofa and Modern Nleya, strikers Zinaka, Tambudzai Ngulube and Marlvin Dube. Ngulube and Dube have each scored six goals this season. ETHIOPIA and Rwanda will meet during November to fill the place at the 2018 African Nations Championship (Chan) vacated by Egypt, the organisers confirmed yesterday.
Egypt withdrew after clubs refused to release players as the tournament for home-based footballers is not staged during a Fifa international window.
The Egyptians were eliminated in the qualifying competition by Morocco, who then replaced unready Kenya as hosts, creating a vacancy in the 16-team field.
Egypt were reinstated only to pull out, leaving Ethiopia and Rwanda to play each other on November 5 and 12 for a finals place.
Ethiopia and Rwanda were eliminated during the final qualifying round and the organisers said they were given a second chance as "part of a concern for fairness".
Qualification is regional and the east will now have three representatives along with the centre and south while the west has five and the north two.
Morocco will host the Nations Championship draw in Rabat on November 17, and the tournament in Agadir, Casablanca, Marrakech and Tangier between January 12 and February 4.
Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia are the other qualifiers. — AFP.