Champs pick point on the road
Bulawayo City . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 1 CAPS United . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1 JOHN ZHUWAWU continued to impress in his breakthrough season by scoring the goal that gave champions CAPS United a point in this Castle Lager Premiership tie at Hartsfield yesterday.
Zhuwawu nodded home a cross from winger Phineas Bamusi, 44 seconds after the break, past City goalkeeper Ndodana Sibanda.
Last season, the Green Machine slumped to a 1-3 defeat at the hands of their opponents here.
In a game of two halves, former FC Platinum forward Ishmael Wadi thrust City ahead with a brilliant header in the 32nd minute when a cross from Sipho Ndlovu found him unmarked inside the box and he beat a diving Edmore “Zikeeper” Sibanda.
It was a goal that came out of the blue, as Makepekepe enjoyed more ball possession, but their biggest hurdle was the City central defence of Zibusiso Sibanda and Zephania Ngodzo, who were excellent on the afternoon.
The champions could have levelled matters right on the stroke of halftime but a Zhuwawu grounder from the penalty box arc was well dealt with by Sibanda.
A lapse in concentration cost City dearly, as they conceded soon after the break, in a match in which the hosts finished with 10 men after Morris Kadzola was sent off.
“To us, it was a good point gained against a good team. Two tough games that we have played in a row and we managed to get four points, I think it’s okay. Despite that lapse in concentration, I think we matched them pound for pound,” said City coach Mandla Mpofu.
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Vancouver Whitecaps, Grobbelaar provided real value for money for Liverpool and revealed the highest wage he picked, back in the days when the English game wasn’t this money-making machine that it is today, was £2 800 a week in the colours of Southampton.
‘’I was two months old when I moved over to Rhodesia,’’ he told Liverpool Football Club TV. ‘’My father got a job on the railways and my mother followed soon after with my sister and myself.
‘’I class myself, was a Rhodesian and now a Zimbabwean because that’s the country that I grew up in and learnt my football. Very, very good childhood. It was a great upbringing. We had the weather to do all the sports and the discipline at the school.
“They were fantastic days at Liverpool but whatever happens now in my life I can’t complain too much. I came to this country with £10 in my pocket and after the Law Lords had
CAPS said they were also happy with a point.
“We are happy we got a point, it’s not a bad result considering that we lost to our great rivals in our last game, we could have collected three points judging by the chances we created.
“We were not active in front of the goal. Our main objective now is to claw up the league table. We don’t belong to where we are now. We have to claw up the ladder and focus on the next game against Bantu Rovers,” assistant coach Mark Mathe said.
The Green Machine, who had earlier indicated that they would set up a temporary base in Bulawayo while awaiting their next match against Rovers, which was initially slated for Saturday, returned to the capital after their game was moved to Sunday.
Teams
Bulawayo City: N. Sibanda, N. Sianchali (D. Maposa 92nd min) S. Ndlovu, C. Rupiya (A. Tandi 72nd min), I. Wadi, M. Mungadze, Z. Ngodzo, R. Pavari, Z. Sibanda, I. Kutsanzira, M. Kadzola
CAPS United: E. Sibanda, V. Musarurwa, H. Zvirekwi, C. Munzabwa, S. Makatuka, D. Chafa, M. Muchenje, P. Bamusi, A. Chidiebere, J. Zhuwawu, D. Chungwa
MOSES CHUNGA A maverick who was as good as they will come, in terms of talent, and that he was signed by a Belgian club, at a time when there were few African players in Europe, speaks volumes about his unquestionable talent.
He played in Belgium at a time when Kalusha Bwalya, the Zambian legend, was also in that country and won the African Footballer of the Year in 1988 while playing for Cercle Brugge. Chunga’s 46 goals, in one season in a domestic campaign, remains a benchmark of goal-scoring brilliance, 30 years down the line, and he was honoured by his Belgian club as one of the greatest to grace their dressing room in history.
In an interview with our sister newspaper, Kwayedza, he joked that he felt he was even better than Lionel Messi, when he was at his peak before injuries ruined his career, and while that will certainly create a storm of debate, there is no questioning he was very, very good.