International window, midweek resumption for PSL games

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
CASTLE Lager Premier Soccer League matches will resume with midweek games after this weekend’s international break to avoid long periods of inactive for teams.

The 2021/22 Premiership season kicked off last week and takes a break this weekend as the senior men’s national football team is involved in two World Cup qualifiers.

Zimbabwe take on South Africa at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium tomorrow, before returning home to play host to Ethiopia at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.

The start of the season has seen a significant number of players plying in the domestic league being included in the Warriors’ squad preparing for the two qualifiers.

Dynamos’ trio of goalkeeper Taimon Mvula, defender Godknows Murwira and striker Bill Antonio, the FC Platinum pair of goalkeeper Petros Mhari and midfielder Kelvin Madzongwe, Chicken Inn goalkeeper Donavan Bernard and Highlanders’ centre-back Peter Muduhwa are with the Warriors.

Zifa took a deliberate decision to use the two matches against Bafana Bafana and Ethiopia as preparatory games for next year’s Afcon finals and locally-based players will be hoping that by the time the Warriors’ technical team calls up the provisional Afcon finals squad, more domestic matches would have been played for them to be considered.

Locally-based players missed out on the Afcon and World Cup qualifiers’ squad because of inactivity, as local sporting activities were suspended because of Covid-19.

“There won’t be any league matches during the international calendar. What we’ve decided is to have the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match day two fixtures during midweek. We don’t want to keep clubs inactive for long,” said the PSL.

Clubs knocked out of the Chibuku Super Cup will then sit out the weekend of November 20-21 and watch the semi-finals of the remodeled competition.

Thereafter, the PSL said league games will return to weekend schedules.

Castle Lager PSL Match Day 2 fixtures

Tenax CS vs Whawha, Bulawayo City vs Manica Diamonds, Highlanders vs Ngezi Platinum, Herentals vs Black Rhinos, Caps United vs Harare City, Yadah vs ZPC Kariba, Triangle United vs Dynamos, Cranborne Bullets vs Bulawayo Chiefs, FC Platinum vs Chicken Inn