Young players rise from boys to men
THEY were the best Under-20 players in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League last season.
Even Soccer Star of the Year selectors couldn’t agree on who was the most outstanding of the trio.
Junior Makunike, who was with Dynamos but is now at Simba Bhora, his former teammate at the Glamour Boys Elton Chikona and still with the Harare Giants as well as Greenfuel’s Washington Mapuwa showed nerves about still being in the elite league.
They posted awe-inspiring performances underlined by impressive statistics.
At the end Chikona who was 18 at the time and Makunike, a year Chikona’s senior helped Dynamos in their remarkable journey in the Chibuku Super Cup tournament.
The Glamour Boys won that cup after beating Ngezi Platinum Stars 2-1 in the final and that was the first time Dynamos won a cup after nine frustrating years.
Thanks of course to the teenagers who pulled the strings, Makunike playing as an anchor while Chikona deployed as a forward.
On the other side, Mapuwa shone brightly in the colours of Greenfuel scoring three goals and providing five assists.
The outstanding work by the trio meant they had to battle it out amongst themselves for the league’s Most Promising Player’s award. It was Chikona who marginally pipped his contestants to the podium.
The 19-year-old who scored four goals and provided three assists for Dynamos in the 2023 season managed 16 votes, a vote more than his “rivals” who both picked 15 points.
The race for this gong has never been that tight.
And the trio is now looking to graduate from battling for the Young Player’s gong to the real business in the league.
“I was very humbled to win the league’s Most Promising Player’s award.
“It was a reward that I never thought I would bag given the nature of competition I was facing from both Junior Makunike and Washington Mapuwa,” said Chikona.
“There were also a lot of good young players who performed remarkably well.
“So winning it was a dream. But it’s all behind the hill now. My focus now is to do well and be counted amongst the best players in the league, not in my age group.
“It’s now time to prove that I am good enough to play for Dynamos and to be amongst the big boys in the league”.
Makunike has decided to swap the blue Dynamos jersey for Simba Bhora’s green.
He was a wanted man across the league and the Glamour Boys even tried to hold onto him.
But the boy who scored a single goal and dished seven assists in 32 games decided to settle for the Shamva-based team.
“I decided to join Simba Bhora because I wanted a new environment and a new challenge.
“I am trying to develop as a player and that is my main resolution for 2024.
I want to be one of the best players in the local league,” said Makunike.
“You need to improve every day and that’s my prayer for this season. “I am trying to work very hard so that I can also stand a chance to play for the junior and senior national teams. “That is the aim for 2024. Football is my career and I am going to work very hard to achieve greatness”.
Mapuwa was also a wanted man but the Legends Academy man decided to stay put at Greenfuel.
“I have built a good understanding with my coach Rodwell Dhlakama and everyone at Greenfuel. So I decided to remain there so I can continue to learn and improve,” said Mapuwa.
“As an individual, I know there is so much room to improve and be one of the best players in the country. So I want to better what I achieved last season”.