This could be my last year, says Bosso keeper

Innocent Kurira

HIGHLANDERS captain Ariel Sibanda says he still has to make a decision regarding his future at the club but feels this could be his last season in-between the sticks for the Bulawayo Premiership football giants.

Sibanda has commanded the Highlanders number one jersey for over a decade after breaking into the first team in 2008 as a junior player. He started doing duty for Bosso’s senior team in 2009 after their then first-choice goalkeeper ,Washington Arubi left. Since then, Sibanda has been Bosso’s trusted goalkeeper.

However, this season Sibanda has been on the sidelines owing to an injury and his replacement Raphael Pitisi has fared well in his absence.

Asked if he had any retirement plans, Sibanda said: “I still have to think about it. I still feel l have a lot to give to football. What l can say is, l still have to decide about that this year or next year. Maybe this is my last year at Highlanders.”

Sibanda congratulated Pitisi on his latest national team call up for the Cosafa Cup, which gets underway in South Africa today.

“I am happy for him. The call up will boost his confidence. He has been doing well since he came in. I think what we can do is to support him, he has tried his best and made unbelievable saves, so he deserves the call up.

“It’s not about competition between the two of us because if it comes to that then he is no longer focusing on himself. I think what he has done well so far, is to work hard, he has been working hard. We have three good goalkeepers and any of them can come in and play, so my message to him is that he has to remain focused and work hard as he has been doing,” said Sibanda.

The 34-year-old goalkeeper has won a number of trophies with Bosso, including the 2019 Chibuku Super Cup, 2013 Mbada Diamonds Cup, the BancABC Super Sup, the NetOne-sponsored EasyCall Cup and several Independence Cups, among others.

However, the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) championship has continued to elude him during his long stay at Bosso. He disputes the notion that during all these years he has not had any serious competition for his place in the team.

Mangoye, as Sibanda is affectionately known, says Munyaradzi Diya and Njabulo Ncube top the list of teammates that gave him a good run for his money. Sibanda is the reigning PSL Goalkeeper of the Year. — @ innocentskizoe.