Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
INSTEAD of celebrating his team’s hard-fought draw against Caps United in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, Highlanders’ skipper Ariel Sibanda decided to remind his teammates what it takes to play for Bosso.
After the final whistle, when the players were still in high spirits while entering the dressing room at the National Sports Stadium, Sibanda, the longest serving Highlanders player, asked coach Mandla Mpofu if he could address his teammates and burst their bubble.
Players that spoke to Chronicle Sport said they were surprised that instead of celebrating avoiding defeat by Caps United, who had taken a first-half lead through Clive Augusto before a sublime equaliser from a free-kick by vice-captain Nqobizitha Masuku in the dying stages of the game, Sibanda decided to hold frank talks with his teammates.
“We’ve never seen Cat (Sibanda) like that. When he started talking, all the noise died down that you could hear a pin dropping. He was emotional and told us that we can’t be celebrating a draw against Caps United when we could have won the match.
He told us that the way we’ve been playing hasn’t been the Highlanders’ way and said we need to take responsibility for our performances.
“Cat was frank and reminded us that a lot of people believe in the team and what we are doing is not right for the Highlanders’ family.
Everyone just stood there, listened to the captain ranting about consistency. Everyone understood that the captain wasn’t shouting at us, but was simply highlighting our shortcomings,” said one of the players.
Another source from the Bosso dressing room said: “Everyone understood the captain and that address was a challenge to us to do better.”
Highlanders are 11th on the league table with nine points from eight games and trail log leaders Chicken Inn by 10 points.
For Sibanda as the team leader, it was important that players reprimand each other and encourage one another to work towards achieving their target.
“If you look at the game against Caps United, we started cautiously even though we could have done better early. We gave Caps United too much respect in the early stages instead of being in control of the game from the onset.
Personally, and I know that’s the feeling within the team, we were not satisfied with a draw against Caps United and we’re a bit disappointed with a point because we wanted a win,” said Sibanda.
The half-time pep talk by gaffer Mpofu motivated the players to improve their second-half performance as they turned the tide on Caps United.
Sibanda wants his teammates to collect maximum points at home and win away, something that they are struggling to do. The Bosso skipper also praised his teammates for their fighting spirit, adding that the fact that they are scoring from set pieces when goals elude them from open play must boost their confidence. Masuku said his captain’s address was what they needed as players, as it challenged them to self-introspect.
“Highlanders is a big institution, one that when you play for you have to know that you carry hopes of millions of people. I think at times the brutal truth from a teammate is all we need and it also helps in terms of focusing on the future.
Some might say it’s ranting, but to me I think it’s good to remind each other about the responsibility we have.
“Another positive to note from the Caps United game is that we managed to recover from a goal down and force a draw even though we could have won the match.
To be honest, if you look at it, we’ve been unlucky because we do create opportunities, we match or even outplay our opponents, but we lack that killer instinct.
I think if at home we score three or more goals in one match, that can boost our confidence,” said Masuku, who has four goals to his account.
Highlanders face Yadah in their next match at home. Yadah held Bulawayo City to a goalless draw. -@ZililoR
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