Chronicle Editor
Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
CLIVE Augusto’s failure to score since making a return to former Castle Lager Premier Soccer League side Chicken Inn midway into the 2021/2022 season has irked club head coach Joey Antipas who has challenged the seasoned forward to up his game.
Augusto retraced his footsteps to the Gamecocks after he became a free agent following his unceremonious departure from Caps United.
Augusto was one of the players dismissed by Harare giants Caps United after being named as a ring leader of an industrial action that nearly resulted in the cancellation of their league match against Cranborne Bullets.
He started doing duty for the Gamecocks in Week 19 and he has been handed a few starting places and at times coming in as a second half substitute. The towering forward has been struggling to replicate his 2019 goal scoring form.
“I feel Augusto is struggling with his game. He has to step up his efforts if he wants to play. He is not giving us the value that we are expecting from him. He hasn’t shown any value at all. He has not really made an impact since he bounced back,” said Antipas.
Augusto was not part of the Gamecocks squad that travelled twice to Rusape last week to face Manica Diamonds in a league match and Black Rhinos in a Chibuku Super Cup they lost 9-8 after a sudden death penalty lottery.
At Chicken Inn Augusto joined a tricky striking duo of hard running Brian Muza who is the country’s second leading top goal scorer with 10 goals under his belt and Malvin Whata in what was deemed to be a deadliest striking combination.
Augusto (27) had a successful first spell at Chicken Inn after scoring 14 goals before leaving for South African Premiership side Maritzburg United, back in 2019.
He banged in 14 goals in 17 matches for the Gamecocks in 2019 to grab the Golden Boot Award, despite leaving the club for South Africa halfway through the season.
He spent two years playing for Maritzburg United and lower tier side Uthongathi before he was released last year and returned home to join Makepekepe in August.
Despite the hype surrounding his move to Maritzburg, Augusto was unable to reproduce the same form in South Africa.
Meanwhile, ahead of their Week 28 Premier Soccer League fixture against bottom placed giant slayers, Whawha, set for Saturday at Luveve Stadium, Antipas revealed that two of their veteran players Tafadzwa Kutinyu and Passmore Bernard are in the treatment room.
“Kutinyu is struggling with a groin injury, Passmore is complaining about his thigh. We are not going to have them when we face Whawha, a tricky side that will come to fight for maximum points.
“They are at the bottom of the table and with us coming from a cup defeat, we will need to pick up the pieces and do well.” — @FungaiMuderere
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