Maruwa calm ahead of Cup

Noel Munzabwa

ZIMBABWE born Green Mamba coach Hebert MaruwaAï¿½ remains calm ahead of the weekendaï¿½ï¿½s SwaziBank Sidlala Kanje Cup final against cup kings Mbabane Swallows set for Somhlolo National Stadium.

A visit to his Matsapha Correctional Services prison camp base last Sunday aï¿½ï¿½ exactly seven days to the final aï¿½ï¿½ apart from being cool and calm, revealed Maruwaaï¿½ï¿½s other passion aï¿½ï¿½ gardening aï¿½ï¿½ as he was busy with his vegetable garden.

Actually not only is he good in farming and coaching, he also has superb skills in the kitchen judging by the scrumptious sadza and pork stew meal he prepared ahead of this interview.

aï¿½?Gardening is my other passion and coaching has also taught me the kitchen skills as well since my wife is not here,aï¿½? said Maruwa before dwelling much on the forthcoming cup final.

He said he didnaï¿½ï¿½t feel intimidated by the final because it was now for his players to lose.

aï¿½?The previous rounds we were fighting for wins, avoiding elimination and winning the trophy. Now we are left with just two of those meaning there is lesser pressure.

aï¿½?Literally the players have the gold medals in their hands and itaï¿½ï¿½s up to them when we eventually take to the field,aï¿½? said Maruwa.

aï¿½?One needs to believe in God and when I got this job the mission was to save the team from relegation. When I started, the team had played 11 league games with eight points. I took over andAï¿½ we played 10 games collecting 19 points. We are now safe in position six.

aï¿½?So getting to the final started just as we were treating each game as it came.

aï¿½?Now itaï¿½ï¿½s no longer a dream. We need this one having missed another big trophy which we lost in the semi-finals.

aï¿½?We need to be at our best because itaï¿½ï¿½s 50-50 chances aï¿½ï¿½ the better team on the day will win hopefully itaï¿½ï¿½s going to be Green Mamba. We have never lost in a cup final.

aï¿½?We are playing one of the best teams in Swaziland and recently they were playing in the champions league that shows they arenaï¿½ï¿½t a bad side so itaï¿½ï¿½s going to be an exciting game.

Since taking over Maruwa has only lost to Royal Leopard twice on an identical 0-2 scoreline in the MTN Premier League of Swaziland and in the Ingwenyama Cup semi-final.

His biggest win was a 6-1 win over Bad Boys in his debut match with last weekaï¿½ï¿½s 5-0 win over Red Lions also worth noting. He has carved Mamba into the second highest scoring team in the league with 35 aï¿½ï¿½ a dozen goals behind Sundayaï¿½ï¿½s opponents Mbabane Swallows.

Swallows have won the inaugural Kingaï¿½ï¿½s Super Cup, Castle Super 8 Cup and Ingwenyama Cup having lost the Charity Shield to Royal Leopard and last week bowed out of the league title.

In the corresponding league fixture the two teams played out 2-2 draw with Swallows clutching away from the jaws of defeat with two late goals.

This will be the first time in four years for a Zimbabwean coach to feature in a Swazi cup final after Rodwell Dhlakamaaï¿½ï¿½s Charity Shield win with Manzini Sundowns in August 2012.