adminEddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
CHAMPIONS FC Platinum have warned they would want to dominate local football for sometime to come after nailing a third league championship in an exciting finale at the weekend.
The Zvishavane-based platinum miners demonstrated their clout in domestic football with a priceless win over giants CAPS United at the National Sports Stadium after the race was reduced to a winner-take-all affair.
Club chairman Evans Mtombeni yesterday paid tribute to coach Lizwe Sweswe and his charges and vowed to strengthen their systems so that they will be able to maintain their stranglehold on the domestic game after winning the title in 2017, 2018 and again in 2019.
“I think we have been in ascendency for a while now. It’s not an event but a process, these are results of a system that we have been putting in place since we got promotion in 2011.
“If you look back to 2011 when we finished second and then went back to seventh the following year, we have been rising steadily along the way to fourth place, third, second and then first in the last three seasons.
“We would like to emulate what teams like Dynamos have done in the past by winning this title more than three times in succession.
“What is important is to have a system in place. I think we have a committed personnel who continue to show hunger for success,” said Mtombeni. The club’s president George Mawere was also ecstatic about the latest success. This was their third title in nine years of top-flight football.
“As the FC Platinum family, we are profoundly humbled, grateful and extremely ecstatic to once again emerge as winners of Zimbabwe’s most sought-after tournament, the 2019 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title for the third successive season.
“This is no small feat . . . To our patron, our presidium, our executive committee, our technical team, our players, our stakeholders and all our supporters, Well Done!
“The road to success was not an easy one. We had our fair share of despair and disappointments but these were punctuated by some magnificently breath-taking and unforgettable moments of celebration.
“When the going was tough, we remained steadfast in what needed to be done, proving once again that indeed, there is no substitute for hard work and determination.
“Guided by our footballing philosophy, which goes beyond just winning matches, throughout the season, we struck a delicate balance of fair and entertaining play that was matched by the highest professional standards.
“We also learnt the virtues of patience and humility along the way, which will undoubtedly go a long way in helping us to realise our mission to become a force to reckon with, not only in Zimbabwe but Africa at large.
“While critics viewed our milestones as over ambitious and impossible, we pursued our targets with dogged tenacity and discipline; and sure enough our strong resolve paid off. Needless to say, for each of the past years, we have attained our yearly targets. Kudos to the entire team and stakeholders for exhibiting such a rare attribute.
“We are Pure Platinum Play!
“As we celebrate this momentous achievement today, we remain alive to our vision to be a leading football brand in Africa and are in no way under illusion as to the amount of resources this will take; both material and talent. “This vision is no mean aspiration. It calls upon us to search for the guidance and support of the entire nation.
“Our success will definitely have far-reaching influence and impact, well beyond Zvishavane and the Midlands Province, and as we celebrate today as the reigning Zimbabwe Premier League club football champions, who will once again go on to represent the nation at the highest level of club football on the continent, our celebrations resonate at national level,” said Mawere.
Online Reporter