Online Reporter
Fungai Muderere
FOR Highlanders, Sunday’s Chibuku Super Cup quarter-final against MWOS at Barbourfields Stadium will carry an emotional weight far beyond the 90 minutes.
At the ceremonial home of Zimbabwean football, the black and white army will hope Bosso can breathe life into a difficult centenary year and keep alive their hopes of ending their milestone season with silverware.
Kick-off is at 3pm.
Highlanders have seen their Premier Soccer League title hopes fade, while their Munhumutapa Cup campaign has also failed to deliver the success supporters craved.
The Chibuku Super Cup therefore represents perhaps their clearest remaining route to glory in a year marking 100 years of the club’s existence.
For a Highlanders family that has endured considerable pain, lifting the trophy would mean far more than adding another piece of silverware to the cabinet.
The centenary celebrations have been overshadowed by heartbreaking losses, with several members of the Bosso family dying in road accidents.
Their absence has been deeply felt by a club whose identity is built as much around its supporters and extended family as the players who wear the famous black and white colours.
Sunday’s game could therefore offer a small measure of healing.
A victory would not erase the pain, but it would give the Highlanders family something to celebrate while providing a moment to remember those who should have been part of the historic 100th year.
Barbourfields is expected to provide the perfect backdrop, with the stadium likely to be awash with black and white as supporters rally behind their team.
Highlanders enter the tie after a goalless league draw against Triangle United at Gibbo Stadium.
They were without midfield maestro Mongameli Tshuma and fleet-footed Kudakwashe Mahachi, who were serving suspensions after accumulating three yellow cards.
Their return should provide a timely boost for coach Benjani Mwaruwari and his charges.
“Benjani (Mwaruwari) has been like a father to us. Highlanders is a great club and I believe we will have to win something for him and the entire Highlanders family, this being the Chibuku Cup since we are out of the league title race and the Munhumutapa Cup,” said Mahachi in an interview with Highlanders media.
But MWOS will arrive with ambitions of their own.
The visitors know knockout football leaves little room for sentiment and will be determined to spoil the centenary party by booking a semi-final place.
Highlanders must turn the emotion surrounding the occasion into positive energy rather than pressure.
Elsewhere, CAPS United face ZPC Kariba at Rufaro Stadium on Saturday at 3pm, while Dynamos host FC Hunters at the same venue on Sunday.
Defending champions Scottland meet Hardrock at Rufaro on Wednesday, September 16, after their fixture was postponed due to CAF Champions League commitments.
Scottland first face Eswatini’s Nsingizini FC in the second leg of their preliminary-round tie, carrying a 1-0 advantage from the first leg.
With eight teams chasing four semi-final places, the Chibuku Super Cup has reached the stage where reputations count for little.
For Bosso, the equation is brutally simple: win and the centenary trophy dream stays alive; lose and another road to silverware disappears.
When Highlanders walk out at Barbourfields, they will carry the hopes of an entire football family. Amid the heartbreak and disappointments of a difficult season, Bosso have a chance to give their family the one thing it has been waiting for: a reason to celebrate.
