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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
IT’S the penultimate week of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season.
FC Platinum have already secured the title, for the fourth time in a row.
They have shown character in a term they started slowly to effectively print their name in an exclusive company’s list.
Only Dynamos (1980-1983 and 2011-2014) and Highlanders (1999-2002) have won four straight titles in the history of the domestic game since Independence.
Whawha have been demoted after only one season in the top-flight. They have underlined their “elevator club” status as they constantly get promoted and relegated from the Premiership.
Tenax and Harare City are virtually out as well with either Bulawayo City or ZPC Kariba likely to join them down.
The competition has been good (here and there) despite the apparent drop in standards in terms of two of the four key components of the game which is technical and tactical.
The players have been slightly up to scratch in the other two aspects – physical and mental though.
There have been individual players who have stood out.
And a panel of coaches, club captains as well as journalists will next week select ”the best 11 players” who have impressed this season.
They will pick the Soccer Star of the Year and his two runners-up, the best goalkeeper, rookie and the coach of the year who will be announced at a later date.
But, who should be on the calendar?
FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza, who has won his third title with the Zvishavane club, has been quoted in the media bemoaning the fallen standards of the game in this country.
“The standards have fallen. You look at how these players perform, it’s not up to the expected standards,” said Mapeza back in May.
Veteran CAPS United technical director Nelson Matongorere believes there is talent in Zimbabwe but most of the talented footballers end up pursuing other fields outside the game.
“There is abundant talent in Zimbabwe, if you ask me. But, the standards in the Premiership is close to pathetic.
“If you want to see talent, go to tertiary institutions. I often attend their matches but due to the negativity associated with our game, good players end up pursuing academics,” said Matongorere.
“There is a need for each and every one of us to play a part in trying to bring sanity to our game. We should be able to demonstrate why someone who is academically gifted should also have a good reason to pursue a football career like what we used to see in the past with the likes of such players as Tauya Murehwa who played football while he was also studying to be a medical doctor.”
Basically, the current crop of players are a disappointing lot such that even fans are no longer interested in attending matches like they used to do some 10 years ago.
But, out of the lot, there are players who have stood out in a season that generally lacked quality.
By all fairness, FC Platinum was driven by Polokwane City “reject” Walter Musona.
The forward, on several occasions, was the difference between the miners’ dropping points and picking up the maximum points.
He missed the initial stages of the season and had a lukewarm start to his second flirtation with FC Platinum but once he peaked, he never showed any signs of fizzling out.
Barring any bias, Musona should not just be on the best 11 but win the big one. He has scored 12 goals and provided five assists to his teammates while creating several scoring chances for the club.
With the leading scorer William Manondo of CAPS United, on 15 goals, Musona even has a chance of launching a late assault and can even win the Golden Boot accolade as well.
Manondo himself can have a huge shout at the Soccer Star of the Year award given his individual exploits.
He has driven a Makepekepe side, which spent the better part of the season in some crisis, almost single-handedly.
At some point in the marathon, the Green Machine looked like they were going to be relegated.
But Manondo’s goals helped them stay safe. On top of the 15 goals he has scored, Manondo has also provided nine assists, making him the best player in the league in terms of offensive statistics.
It’s just unfortunate his team has been punching below their weight but then the calendar is about individual brilliance.
His teammates Devon Chafa and Tulani Joseph have also been very consistent just like Musona’s FC Platinum colleagues Gift Bello, Brian Banda and Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya.
If CAPS United punched below their weight, then Dynamos have been dismal given the resources put in the team by their principal sponsors Sakunda Holdings.
DeMbare managed to buy every player they wanted and hopes were high they would be having a say in the destiny of the championship, especially in the initial stages.
They were let down not just by underwhelming performances by their players but by in-house squabbles which saw coach Tonderai Ndiraya being suspended at a time the team was doing well.
That suspension, reversed within a week, somehow took a knock on the team’s showing.
Dynamos are third on the log but they can finish in second place depending on how they fare in their last two games against Herentals and CAPS United.
They will also be praying second-placed Chicken Inn drop some points.
The Glamour Boys’ campaign has largely been hinged on a solid defence with their disappointing attack to blame for their failure to sustain a push for the championship.
Defender Frank Makarati has been solid at the back while goalkeeper Taimon Mvula has been the main reason DeMbare have been conceding less.
The 29-year-old shot-stopper has kept out 17 clean sheets while conceding 10 goals minus the three awarded to their opponents Highlanders following an ill-fated match, via the boardroom.
In those 10 goals conceded in 29 matches he has played, two were own goals.
Mvula’s command of his backline is second to none as the defenders, who have often been rotated by coach Ndiraya during the season, have played the same games with Mvula in goals. It won’t be surprising if Mvula wins the big one too.
Another goalkeeper, Nelson Chadya of Ngezi Platinum Stars, has also kept 17 clean sheets while conceding 19 goals. He has been the most outstanding player at the Mhondoro team which is enjoying a new lease of life under caretaker coach Takesure Chiragwi.
His teammates Polite Moyo and Carlos Mavhurume also stand a good chance of making it on the calendar.
Highlanders, just like Dynamos, have been poor by their standards but their late show in their top-four bid has largely been due to the brilliance of vastly talented midfielder Divine Mhindirira. He has scored three goals while providing 11 assists and some sections actually believe he should be in the top three of the stars.
The same goes for defender Peter Muduhwa who has been consistent throughout the season.
But if there are two teams which should provide representatives on the soccer stars list then it should be surprise Chibuku Super Cup finalists Herentals and Bulawayo Chiefs. The two have shown the way, eliminating giants in the Chibuku Super Cup while also doing so well in the league.
Herentals’ charge has been driven by defenders Brighton Majarira and Prince Chama while Tino Benza and John Zhuwawo have been also key. Bulawayo Chiefs’ cause has been helped by Arthur Musiiwa and Billy Veremu while the likes of Mthokozisi Msebe and Marlvin Mkolo were also key.
Chicken Inn’s Donovan Benard and Brian Muza, Farai Banda, Gareth Madhake and Eli Ilunga of Black Rhinos as well as Donald Ngoma of Triangle and Manica Diamonds’ Nyasha Chintuli all stand a chance.
Whawha might have been relegated but their midfielder English Culum-Brown was also in the form of his life this season and it will not be surprising to see the former Zimbabwe youth international on the calendar for the first time.
Their teenage striker Jayden Bakare has also been so good it would be a shame if he misses out. He is also a front-runner for the Rookie of the Year award, having scored nine goals so far.
He is rivalled for the latter award though by Herentals’ 19-year-old goalie Takudzwa Chikosi who has kept 14 clean sheets in his debut season.
Chikosi’s age and teammate Tafadzwa Jim also stands a good chance after scoring six goals while providing 12 assists.
Mapeza is the odds-on favourite for the Coach of the Year accolade with Herentals’ Kumbirai Mutuwekuziva and Joey “Mafero” Antipas of Chicken Inn the dark horses.
Online Reporter