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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
QADR Amini had to wait 14 years before he could win his second career league medal and the former Zimbabwe international is keen on prospects of playing CAF Champions League football again.
Now 33, Amini captained Ngezi Platinum to victory in the Castle Lager Premiership to clinch the ticket to the African safari for the Mhondoro side.
But this will not be his first time in the African jungle. He has played with Gunners and with FC Platinum.
He was only 20 when he premiered in CAF’s superior inter-club competition with Gunners in 2010, having won his first championship medal as a mere 19-year-old the previous season.
But the league title had eluded him for over a decade despite stints with some of the teams that won the domestic championship during the period, Dynamos and FC Platinum.
“I got my first league title in 2009 at Gunners under Moses Chunga. Unfortunately, the title has eluded me over the years. But I won Chibuku Super Cup with FC Platinum,” said Amini.
“I’m so happy to win this title with Ngezi Platinum Stars.
“We deserve it because we never gave up. We started off on a slow note but we managed to keep up the momentum and when the right time came, we managed to maintain our game.
“I think the major turning point was when we got to the second round of the league games. We said to ourselves ‘look we want to maintain our position and keep up the fight.
“We don’t have to lose games and if we are to lose we need to lose by small margins and find ways to come back. That is what we did and it kept us going.”
Amini is now looking forward to use the experience gained over the years to drive Ngezi Platinum Stars to success in the Champions League.
“When I started playing at Gunners, I was so young and I played with the big guys like Norman Maroto, Ovidy Karuru and Willard Katsande.
“They played an active role in guiding me.”
Online Reporter