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Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
CAPS UNITED midfielder Devon Chafa is set to endure one of his driest Premiership football seasons in more than a decade but that is not his primary concern for now.
The most decorated player in the local top-flight right now and the only player in the history of Zimbabwean football to win seven league titles with three different teams is part of a soul-searching exercise currently underway at the Green Machine.
Everything is upside-down at Makepekepe on-and-off the field of play with financial struggles taking a toll on the team’s performance.
They have already been booted out of the Chibuku Super Cup while they are not entirely safe from relegation in the league where they have a measly five-point cushion from the last relegation spot with nine games still to be played before the season closes.
Chafa will conclude one of his most miserable seasons without any medal this season and he knows it’s part of the game.
He is instead focused on helping the Green Machine finish the season on a high after a difficult stretch dating from late last year when the current season started.
He was roped in from Ngezi Platinum Stars early this year and life has not been as comfortable as it was when he was still with the Mhondoro team with whom he won a silver medal after reaching the Chibuku Super Cup final.
“You know this is part of the game. We are all professional footballers and everyone knows that we have a huge responsibility to represent CAPS United with dignity and make sure the badge is protected,” Chafa said.
“We are not in an ideal situation as a team. I am also not in an ideal situation as a player given the achievements I have become used to. But the most important thing is that we should know that we are playing for a big club and we don’t want to go down in history as the crop that saw the team being relegated.
“That won’t happen under our watch. We have disappointed the fans, we have disappointed everyone associated with this great institution but look, the season is far from finished.
“We will play for the points. We will play to win a possible 27 points and it’s up to us to put on the work.
“We cannot afford to have any more slip-ups. Believe me, we will fight until the end. We have a very good chance of finishing the season on a high, given where we are and where the teams above us are.
“Of course, it is a fact that we are near the relegation zone but at CAPS United, with the material that we have, I tell you, that is not the language we talk. That is a foreign language for us. CAPS United remains CAPS United come under what may. I would like to reassure our fans that we will fight to defend the badge, to defend our territory under any circumstances because we are also aware of our responsibilities as players.” Chafa and co-captain Phineas Bamusi were engaged by club president Farai Jere last week with the latter explaining the delay in the payment of their salaries from the last two months.
The players were boycotting training all week until that meeting when the pair talked to their mates who then agreed to train on Friday and Saturday morning before they departed to Bulawayo for a date against Highlanders.
But they lacked the requisite endurance and general match fitness going into that match.
It wasn’t surprising when they allowed Highlanders to come from behind to claim the match on a 2-1 scoreline despite Makepekepe starting on the front foot. The problems are still there but for now, the players seem to have agreed to train ahead of their match against Herentals at the National Sports Stadium this Saturday. Chafa though has been one of the most outstanding individuals in the whole league providing 10 assists in the 19 matches he has played.
Castle Lager Premiership Fixtures
Friday: Yadah v Highlanders (NSS)
Saturday: Cranborne Bullets v Whahwa (Vengere)
Chicken Inn v Ngezi (Luveve), CAPS Utd v Herentals (NSS), FC Platinum v Manica Diamonds (Mandava)
Sunday: Tenax v ZPC Kariba (Vengere), Bulawayo Chiefs v Black Rhinos (Luveve), Triangle v Bulawayo City (Gibbo), Dynamos v Harare City (NSS)
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