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Fungai Muderere in Pretoria South Africa—
SOUTH African Premiership clubs Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, Supersport and Golden Arrows have reportedly made enquiries about a number of Chicken Inn players following their strong performance in the second leg of the Caf Champions League preliminary round defeat on Saturday night.
A last minute penalty converted by substitute Katlego Mashego enabled Sundowns to dump Chicken Inn out of the African safari at a flood lit Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria.
Towering defender Wayne Arendse had thrust the South African side into the lead after 34 minutes. Sundowns beat the Gamecocks 2-0 to go through 2-1 on aggregate. Sundowns are reportedly keen on assessing the hard running Mitchelle Katsvairo and the skilful Edmore Chirambadare.
The Brazilians, as Sundowns are known, made enquiries about the two soon after the match at Lucas Moripe Stadium where the players won the hearts of fans courtesy of their ball artistry and wizardry.
Even South African journalists could not resist asking more about the duo from their Zimbabwean counterparts. Supersport United have also enquired about Chirambadare, who joined Chicken Inn last season from Tsholotsho FC. Chirambadare has previously had a trial stint with Bidvest Wits.
Midfielder Tafadzwa Kutinyu, who Sundowns’ coach Pitso Mosimane described as a great player after the first leg at Barbourfields Stadium that Chicken Inn won 1-0 a fortnight ago, could also join the great trek south.
Golden Arrows have expressed interest in young left back Devine Lunga.
“The boys performed gallantly and we’ve had a few enquiries from South African clubs about some of our players. Unfortunately, we’ll not mention names, but we’ll not stand in any player’s way. We’re ready to strike deals,” said Chicken Inn chairman Lifa Ncube.
“It’s good that our boys are getting that kind of recognition. They’ve a good technical team and we would like to thank our fans that backed the boys in this campaign. If luck was on our side on Saturday, we could’ve scored one or two goals. However, this campaign was an eye opener. We’re going back home to try and defend our title so that we venture into another African safari contest. We’ve done well as a club and people in South Africa now know about the Chicken Inn brand, which is good for us as a company and for our players. Playing Sundowns really worked for us,” said Ncube.
Meanwhile, defender Passmore Bernard, who was adjudged to have fouled Khama Billiat inside the box resulting in the knockout penalty at the death, has maintained that he never made any physical contact with the Zimbabwe international.
“Khama received a pass before outpacing some of my teammates. He came face-to-face with me and I shielded him and kicked the ball, which he was trying to protect. In fact, Billiat dived and the referee was too harsh on us, but it’s part of the game,” said the soft spoken Bernard.
Online Reporter