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Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
FORMER Highlanders’ Under-18 coach, Gift Lunga Jr, who recently joined Victoria Falls-based Division One outfit Mosi Rovers as head coach, has promised to bring Premiership football to the resort town in three years.
Speaking at a Press conference, Lunga, who was given a three-year contract, said he will bring in former Bosso players; Eric Mudzingwa and Ozias Zibande to the club as part of his vision to bring topflight football to the soccer -hungry tourism town.
“Three years is a long time for me and I will try and bring good football to Victoria Falls with all the support I can get. I have sent my vision to the club and I want to bring Premier Soccer League football to Victoria Falls,” said Lunga.
He said for the one week he had been with the club before being thrust into the hot seat, he noted that there is a need for a lot of work to be done, especially upfront.
“I was impressed by the backline and I am bringing Mudzingwa and Zibande, among other experienced players, to bolster the squad and pray that the window opens fast so we beef up,” Lunga said.
He said he will scout for young talent around the province to fuse with experienced players to achieve his three-year vision.
Lunga also emphasised that he did not dump Highlanders, but was given the nod by his childhood club to try his luck in Victoria Falls.
“I didn’t dump the club. My blood is black and white but when Mosi approached me, I referred them to my superiors and my coming here got their blessing,” he said.
Mosi Rovers chairman, Martin Mhlanga said the club hopes for a fruitful relationship with Lunga and that he will leave a lasting legacy.
“We had a set of options, but narrowed on Gift as we considered quality and availability. He is a brand and he is bringing in experience as we want to show sponsors that we mean business. We are working on members’ contributions, which for now can take care of the coach’s welfare,” Mhlanga said.
He said getting into topflight football will help the club ride on sports tourism and build a bigger fan base.
Mhlanga also added that club management had made it mandatory to have a roadshow around town on the eve of every home match to mobilise fans.
“There has been a consistent challenge of lack of buy-in from the community where there is little contribution to development of sport.”
Victoria Falls has had Intundla, Sao Paulo, Kujatana, Trumus, little known Gorge Security, Vic Falls United, Savanna and Zamaleck in lower divisions, but none of them was ever promoted to the Premiership. — @ncubeleon
Online Reporter