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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
AGRIPPA Murimba marked his arrival at FC Platinum with a goal as the ambitious Zvishavane side held continental giants Mamelodi Sundowns to a 1-1 draw in a training match in the South African North West province town of Rustenburg on Saturday.
According to media reports from South Africa, FC Platinum’s goal was a combination of new signings, with former Dynamos’ midfielder Bret Amidu coming up with an assist for Murimba, an ex-Harare City striker.
Mamelodi Sundowns, the 2016 Caf Champions League champions, got their goal from Colombian striker Leonardo Castro.
Reigning Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Goalkeeper of the Year Petros Mhari reportedly made numerous saves to keep the platinum miners in the game.
FC Platinum, the 2016 PSL runners-up, are in South Africa for a pre-season training camp and the match against Sundowns could have given coach Norman Mapeza an idea of how ready his players are for an assault on the 2017 season.
Sundowns, who set up a mid-season training camp in North West province, used the match to prepare for the second half of the Premiership campaign which resumes this week.
The Brazilians occupy seventh spot on the Absa PSL table, six points adrift of leaders SuperSport United. They, however, have five games in hand due to their involvement in the Caf Champions League last year.
Due to the need to catch up on games, Sundowns face a busy fixture list that will see them playing eight games in 31 days, starting with a league clash against Bloemfontein Celtic at the Dr Molemela Stadium on February 8
“Our coaches used the training game to shrug off rust from the mid-season break and they also want to prepare players for the league as well as the Champions League, which will be starting shortly. It was a good training game we had against FC Platinum,” said a Sundowns spokesman.
FC Platinum, who took along 27 players to South Africa, including four newly signed players Amidu, Gift Mbweti, Talent Chawapiwa and Murimba, had only three players, Soccer Star of the Year finalist Winston Mhango, Gift Bello and Kevin Moyo playing the entire match, while the other players played part of the game.
@ZililoR
Online Reporter