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Cosmas Zulu
Highlanders vs Yadah — Chibuku Trophy First Round
(B/Fields, 23/09/2018)
As early as the second minute Highlanders could have scored, if it was not for slow reaction by striker Tafadzwa Sibanda. And Nigel Makumbe also came up with a weak shot in the fifth minute and truly speaking, Highlanders could have gone to the break with three goals as Sibanda also hit the side nets after beating a number of defenders.
Highlanders also appealed for a penalty after Sibanda sold a dummy to a defender only for him to initiate body contact with an opponent and fell.
I think if the referee could not give a penalty, at least he was supposed to give him the yellow card for simulation.
Just after the break Yadah scored from a corner kick and a few minutes later, the cross bar came to the rescue of Highlanders as Yadah sought a second goal off Simba Sithole’s boot who produced a beautiful chip that had beat Highlanders goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda.
Highlanders equalised in the 76th minute and I believe the match officials got it wrong as the scorer was in an offside position. I also felt the referee could have added a few minutes of optional time, judging by the number of stoppages in the second half, but he ended the game at exactly 90 minutes.
Let me say this. Highlanders coach Madinda Ndlovu and his technical team’s gambling with two substitutes in the second half brought in some urgency and aggression which was missing in the first half, and they were deservedly rewarded with the winning goal in the dying stages of the game to proceed to the quarter finals of the Chibuku Cup.
Chicken Inn vs Chapungu (Luveve, 26/ 09/2018 )
It all started with Chicken Inn players wanting to stamp some authority over their opponents and they did that with style, scoring two goals in the first half. As usual Chirinda and Majika were combining well with some dribbling skills.
In the 23rd minute a shot from Majika deflected off a defender in the box and strayed to a Chicken Inn striker who shot a stinger at the goalkeeper who spilled it and then Innocent Mucheneka tapped in to get the first goal. Little did we know that a beautiful goal was coming from 25 metres tucked into the far corner of the goals with some precision accompanied with fire power by Mucheneka, who grabbed a brace.
Then third goal could have come when Majika’s lob behind a drawn goalkeeper hit the cross bar.
Mighty Warriors in Cosafa
It goes like this. A week before the tournament while walking in town to be precise I bumped into Mighty Warriors National coach Sithethelelo Sibanda. I was really surprised.
Why she was still here in Zimbabwe? She told me that they were still to go into camp. I said to her some of our competitors have been preparing for the last month and I didn’t see our girls doing any better in the tournament.
Anyway my concern to you all the national coaches, you never mention to the press and public that the national body, Zifa, does not give you enough time to prepare for tournaments. You are afraid to mention that because you are scared that you will not get the job next time.
Look at this, after this discussion the same coach loses to Uganda, in the crucial game to qualify for semi-finals. After the game when journalists asked he why Zimbabwe lost the game, she says, “Oh the cohesion of the team was not good hence we lost the game”. She did not mention that she only had one week of preparations. I remind you madam again “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”.
Facts are stubborn
English Premier League is said to be the best competitive league in the world with good marketing, with money to buy the best talent in the world , the likes of Hazard, Pogba, Kante, Mohammed Salah, Lukaku.
It has the best foreign coaches at Manchester Untied, Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea. The last time a club in this league won the Uefa Champions League was in 2012 by Chelsea. So can this be the best league in the world?
Coaching staff must have a technical secretary in them. One who will record analysis data during training sessions and games.
This data will help the staff during team meetings to point out shots on target taken by individuals from the last games.
This will help strikers to work harder and prove to the coach that they can do better than the last game.
The data can also help the coach, whether it’s worth playing the same strikers in future games or make changes.
Joke — Father to a son “I want you to marry Dube’s daughter”. Son: “Where does she work? “At a telephone exchange”. “No, I will not marry her because she will keep saying what can I do for you”. Father: “What of Tshuma’s daughter, she is a nurse” Son says, “She will keep saying you are doing better, I will not marry her”. Father says “What about Ncube’s daughter, she is a teacher”. Son says “Oh yes I will marry her, she will always say let’s do it again and again and again until we get it right”.
Morale of the joke; Coaches you have to be teachers, do shooting drills more often.
Until next time lets keeping reading. Feed back [email protected] /0773 842 671
Online Reporter