daniel chigunwe
Innocent Kurira
Sports Writer
THAT Highlanders coach Baltemar Brito sat on the bench for their Chibuku Super Cup quarter-final match against CAPS United on Sunday was a surprise to many.
The bigger surprise was defender Peter Muduhwa making the starting 11 on the day.
Both had been on national team duty in Botswana the previous day.
Muduhwa played the entire 90 minutes in the Warriors’ 4-3 penalty loss to Botswana in Gaborone 24 hours earlier was involved in another penalty shoot-out loss in club colours.
The match had ended 2-2 in regulation time. While it would have been thought the coach would allow some other players to play, he instead went for Muduhwa who however, did not disappoint and never looked tired. The ever-reliable defender did not put any foot wrong on a day Mbongeni Ndlovu who assumed the role of captain and Andrew Mbeba were brilliant for Highlanders.
Not surprising though as Bosso’s main strength this season has been their defence.
Mbeba and Ndlovu led the Bosso comeback from 0-2 to 2-2 forcing a penalty shoot-out which in the absence of reliable penalty stopper Ariel Sibanda due to injury, was going to be a tall order.
While some questioned Muduhwa’s selection, Brito firmly stood by his decision.
“Peter has become a legend at Highlanders at this moment. He needs to play, if he is ready and if I have confidence in him, I will select him. If he is tired okay but he woke up early and he was not tired. The boy wanted to help the team, to fight. I cannot say no, even though I know there is another player who wants to play,” said Brito.
“This is football. Sometimes the players are efficient, sometimes they are not. I think the second half was good. We scored the two goals but they were not enough for us to win in penalties,” said Brito.
Online Reporter