Chemhanza geared up

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
CHEMHANZA coach Never Mhandu believes his charges have what it takes to defend their title in the boys Under-16 Copa Coca-Cola football tournament which is already underway in different provinces.
The tournament kicked off with the zonal competitions with boys Under-16 and girls Under-17 participating.
Winners will proceed to the district competition with provincial championships culminating in the national finals.

Chemhanza won the trophy last year and speaking on the sidelines of the tournament’s official launch on Saturday, Mhandu said they have already started preparing for the finals to be staged in Harare from July 18 to 20.

They will lock horns with champions from Masvingo and Mashonaland Central in Pool A for the two spots in the quarter-finals.
“We are preparing well for this tournament and the boys have been working very hard to convince me that they are going to do well in Harare. They are fired up and as you saw from the group we have got Masvingo and Mashonaland Central. It’s a tough group but I do like tough games and I hope that tough group will help us to sail through,” said Mhandu.

He said although they have some players from last year’s team, they are pinning their hopes on some new faces coming into the team for this year’s event.

“They are there but we are banking our hopes on those players that were not commanding first team jerseys . . . They are eager to perform. They have seen the good part of the tournament so they cannot wait to play.

“For those that were commanding first team jerseys, we have very few of them. They have got the experience of the tournament so they will help the other guys that are coming in for this year’s competition. We hope they will make some good combinations for the team,” said Mhandu.

Mhandu, who accompanied the Zimbabwe select side which won last year’s Copa Coca-Cola International camp in South Africa, hailed two of his players, Tatenda Munditi and Tatenda Tumba, who made it into the All-Stars Copa Coca-Cola team.

“It’s something special, it’s great. It’s good for our football and I think it’s good for everyone who is associated with Coca-Cola. I think we have achieved this because we have a very rigid technical department so this is a good result for us.

They will represent Chemhanza, they will represent Zimbabwe at the World Cup so it’s something special,” said Mhandu.
Munditi and Tumba will attend a weeklong camp in Brazil this month and watch the opening match of the 2014 World Cup finals between the hosts Brazil and Croatia.