Turkey says Hadebe you are a star!

Fungai Muderere
WARRIORS centre back Teenage Hadebe is feeling on top of the world after he was named in the Turkish Super League’s Best 11 players of the just ended 2019/2020 season.

“It can only be God. I am happy for the achievement. Inkosi ivumile,” said the towering left-footed defender who made 28 appearances in all competitions for Yeni Malatyaspor.

After joining the Turkish outfit from South African glamour club Kaizer Chiefs in July last year, the former Bantu Rovers, Chicken Inn and Highlanders defender was the only Yeni Malatyaspor player to make it into the Turkish Team of The Year.

The other players that made it into the team are former Liverpool star Martin Skertl who happens to be Istanbul Basaksehir’s central defender. The duo of Brazilian Junior Caicara and Congolese Fabrice N’Sakala complete the team’s rearguard.

Hadebe’s achievement came weeks after he tied the knot with his longtime sweetheart, Mitchell Matambanashe, the mother of his three children.

With reports suggesting that six-time Turkish Super Liga champions Trabzonspor which is home to ex-Chelsea and Nigerian star John Obi Mikel and Daniel Sturridge, were interested in signing Hadebe, Zimbabwe’s Fifa-accredited agent Gibson Mahachi was quick to advise that his compatriot should stay put at Yeni Malatyaspor.

Hadebe and his teammates were set to be demoted to the lower league and it was after the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced that clubs would not be relegated that they heaved a sigh of relief with the Zimbabwean international, who has been flaunting on social media, writing on Twitter : “ Difficult roads often lead us to beautiful destinations #Never give up”.

TFF chairman Nihat Ozdemir made the announcement, adding that 21 teams would play in the Super Lig next season.

Yeni Malatyaspor, Hes Kablo Kayserispor and MKE Ankaragucu will play in the Premier League next season as these three would normally have been relegated to the second-tier TFF First League once the season ended.

Ozdemir said four teams would be relegated at the end of the 2020-21 season from Super Lig, with 20 to compete in the top-tier division’s 2021-22 season.

He added that the Super Lig’s new foreign player restrictions would also not apply for the 2020-21 season.

The rules state that Super Lig clubs could sign a maximum of 14 foreigners in a season as there are no restrictions for the starting 11.