Munetsi showered with praise

WOLVES coach Vitor Pereira has heaped praise on Marshall Munetsi after making his full start in the English Premier League on Saturday.

Munetsi, a Zimbabwe Warriors holding midfielder Warriors, joined the club a few weeks ago, started in the 1-0 win against Bournemouth and played until the 67th minute.

The Zimbabwean midfielder assisted the solitary which was scored by Cunha.

The 28-year-old played as a box-to-box midfielder. He won six of nine ground duels, while completing five out of eight aerial duels.

Speaking after the match, as cited on Wolves website Pereira said: “What I’m asking him is to help the team as a midfielder and to appear from the back into the box.

“And he has again a situation to score, and it was not today, but every time he appears there he has a chance to score.

“But what I like in this player is the guy is the player that can miss a goal in the opponent’s box and then after 30 seconds, he is defending in our box.

“This is what we wanted when we looked for him. We wanted to find a physical midfielder who can support the other two midfielders.”

In a repeat of what many Zimbabweans would probably term an English Premier Soccer League deadline-day classic, Warriors vice-captain Munetsi , sealed a lucrative move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in late January.

The transfer thrilled many of the Warriors supporters.

Munetsi was Wolves’ second deadline-day signing.

The Zimbabwe international midfielder was acquired from French side Stade de Reims on a three-and-a-half-year contract, with a further 12-month option.

Munetsi (28) joined Wolves following 159 appearances for Reims, 67 of which were alongside Emmanuel Agbadou, another of Wolves’ January signings.

His dramatic switch to the EPL move on the last day of the transfer deadline rekindled memories of ex-Warriors captain Benjani Mwaruwari’s story that took place way back in January 2008.

Then on the books of Portsmouth, the Undertaker, as Mwaruwari is warmly called, was shipped off to Southampton airport on deadline day after a £7.6 million bid from Manchester City was reportedly tabled.

However, according to The Sun newspaper then, Pompey boss Harry Redknapp received a call saying the former Warriors striker hadn’t arrived at Manchester airport.

It was later claimed that Mwaruwari missed two flights, and a third had been cancelled.

Seventeen years on, Mwaruwari has revealed what really went down.

“I always have a lot of questions about that. The flight was delayed. And my phone, now, I didn’t bring the charger; my phone is dead. I made the decision; I want to go,” he told The Sun.

Mwaruwari eventually arrived at Manchester City’s training ground at 11:10pm, with barely enough time to complete the deal. “It was five minutes to 12; everything was just a mess there.

The fax machine broke down, so only one or two papers went through, and the rest were missing.”

The transfer eventually went through on February 5, 2008, for a £3,87 million fee, with bonuses.