admin
Sports Reporter
EVEN among our correspondents, from Harare to Leeds and from Cambridge to Sydney, Tino Kadewere was a popular choice for The Herald’s Footballer of the Season award.
(Charles Mabika — Special Correspondent) – TINO KADEWERE
For me, it has to be, without any doubt, Tino Kadewere, the high-flying Warriors forward who exploded on the French Ligue 1 stage with aplomb, in the last season.
I had always predicted Tino would go places, after watching him shine and walking away with the Player of the Tournament award, at the highly competitive “Hammer and Tongues Under-20 Schools Tournament” at St George’s College back in 2014, when he starred for his school team, Prince Edward.
It didn’t take long for local Premiership side, Harare City, to grab him and after a few outings, he was signed by Swedish side Djugarden and then French Ligue 2 side Le Havre, where he once again shone, before being loaned to giants Lyon.
This is where his “real business” started as he set off on devastating scoring, and assisting, spells.
He is the best local attacking export, in new territory, alongside former Highlanders forward Prince Dube of Tanzania’s Azam, after Peter Ndlovu (at English top-flight side Coventry City in 1991) and Nyasha Mushekwi (Djugarden in 2015).
Tino is immensely gifted with a superb and intimidating physical prowess and possesses great vision on and off the ball.
I am adamant that in two years’ time, top English, Italian and Spanish sides will be scrambling for his signature.
(Phillip Zulu in Leeds, England – Sports Correspondent) – TINO KADEWERE
My vote goes to Tino Kadewere, he deserves this special recognition, and accolade, for his goals tally that helped Lyon to qualify for the Europa League.
This will be a good platform for his further development, in terms of club international tournaments’ engagement, where he will be exposed to tough competitive football.
He will possibly play against Leicester City and West Ham, the English teams that qualified this season.
Tino’s predatory instincts will be on display, and this tournament is a huge step towards Champions League football, the year after.
Fingers crossed, we are heading for exciting times as we hope to witness Tino playing with top players, boosting his confidence and finesse, and helping our World Cup qualification campaign for Qatar 2022.
(Danai Chitakasha in Cambridge, England – Sports Correspondent) – PRINCE DUBE
I will raise up my hand and go for Prince Dube. Yes, I accept Marshall Munetsi, Tino Kadewere and Marvelous Nakamba are playing in higher leagues in Europe, and have done reasonably well but, for me, Prince Dube has proven he is one of the most gifted strikers to emerge from Zimbabwe. Prince scores goals, not just any goals but beautiful goals, too, His technique is simply amazing.
Let me describe three goals, which clearly show that barring injury, Prince will play in one of the top leagues soon.
A long ball was flighted from defence and Prince, like all good strikers, decided to run behind the defence. The ball bounced off the retreating defender, Prince recovered his stride, took a step back and simply hit the ball into the roof of the net from about 20 metres.
Another long ball from midfield (Azam seem to like these balls a lot) and Prince was off on his bike, he cooled the ball with a deft touch, leaving the defender trailing, opening up his body, he curled the ball into the nets, Thiery Henry-style.
Another ball, which bounced in front of him, Prince simply hit the ball with chilling accuracy, giving the ‘keeper no chance.
A number of qualities are revealed about Prince, if one looks closely at the above goals – his movement off the ball, his runs behind the defence, his impeccable ball control and, above all, his shooting technique reveal the hallmark of a top striker.
Despite some injuries, he has scored 14 goals and leads the charts in the Tanzanian league, which is growing exponentially.
(Bernard Muchemwa in Sydney, Australia – Sports Correspondent) – TINO KADEWERE
For me, it is a four-man race pitting Tinotenda Kadewere, Knowledge Musona, the gifted Warriors captain, Prince Dube and Teenage Hadebe, who had a late rally in Turkey, for Yeni Malatyaspor.
I put my money on Tino Kadewere.
Many will agree with me that the Warriors forward had a memorable year and deservedly tops the bill.
Yes, that’s it, Tino wins it for me.
Online Reporter