adminyesterday for tonight’s fund-raising ball in the capital and tomorrow’s testimonial match.
Pezzoni played for former German champions, FC Cologne, in the Bundesliga this year but their campaign ended on a sad note when the club was relegated from the top-flight league.
Pezzoni is set to move, during the off-season, as part of a clutch of stars expected to leave FC Cologne, following their fall from the Bundesliga.
Already striker Lucas Podolski has left and joined English Premiership giants, Arsenal.
Pezzoni was this year rated one of the three best young players, in his position, in the Bundesliga alongside Joel Matip of Shalke and Pillip Bargfrede of Weder Bremen.
“Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund) and Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen) are rightly considered the stand-out prospects to claim a starting spot in the German national team in the near future, but there have been several other notable, similarily aged performers in the defensive midfield position,” said IMScouting.com, in its review.
“Here are three of the German top flight’s finest young defensive midfielders – Joel Matip, Kevin Pezzoni and Philipp Bargfrede, three of the Bundesliga’s most impressive young defensive midfielders.
“The towering 22-year-old (Pezzoni) is currently in his fourth season with Bundesliga club FC Cologne, and has already accumulated 65 league appearances on German soil.
”A former member of the Germany Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 sides, Pezzoni spent five years at the youth academy of English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers before signing professionally with his current club.
”Although he started as a centre-back, Pezzoni grew into the defensive midfield role, in which he mainly features at Cologne.
“Still, he is occassionally employed in the centre of defence as cover for injured or suspended players. At 1.92m of height, Pezzoni is an imposing figure in the midfield or defence.”
Benjani told The Herald last night that he was charmed by Pezzoni and Mokoena’s arrival.
“It means a lot for me and the team who are organising the event that we have already been honoured by the arrival of a World Cup captain, in Mokoena, and a midfielder who is regarded highly in Germany,” said Benjani.
“Kevin’s arrival shows us that football is a unifying sport because when people talk about a testimonial for an African player, usually they expect to just see African players.
“But here we are today hosting a German international who has decided that it’s something good for him to come here and be part of our story.”
Pezzonni told his official website that he was excited about coming to Harare and to link up with a galaxy of international stars to honour Benjani and also raise funds for charity.
Mokoena scaled the heights of club football in England when he featured for Portsmouth in the FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.
Interestingly, the former South African skipper used his appearance in the showcase event to tell the world that he was lucky to have even lived beyond the age of 12.
Mokoena revealed that his mother had to dress him as a girl to hide him from an atrocity in the grim days of apartheid during a massacre in his township in June 1992.
“I was still young, only 11 years of age, but I remember the following day that I was on my way to school and people were coming back, crying,” Mokoena told The Guardian.
“That’s when we heard there had been a massacre. It happened at night when people were sleeping. It was awful.
“After the massacre, there were a lot of rumours saying that these people wanted to kill the young boys. So my mum had to protect me in any way and she decided to dress me as a girl. “
Maybe, that explains why he has so much passion for life and would not miss an opportunity to celebrate the life of a former teammate and also take part in the ball to raise funds for a foundation that intends to nurture the next generation of Zimbabwean football stars.
Most of the stars expected to grace the ball tonight and the testimonial tomorrow are scheduled to arrive this evening and the organisers announced last night that tickets will also be sold at the gates at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.
The galaxy of international football stars, who descend on Harare this evening, are expected to hog the limelight in the city and Chez Ntemba International, management said last night they were ready to help the stars rock and roll, during their visit, at their club in the capital.
A number of the stars are expected to taste Zimbabwe’s night life, especially after the testimonial tomorrow, and the majority of them are set to dance the night away at Chez Ntemba International.
Online Reporter