adminSikhumbuzo Moyo
ORGANISERS of the inaugural Weeks/Zambezi soccer tournament have expressed satisfaction with the way the tournament went and promised to have an even bigger and better event next year. The event, sponsored by former Hwange goalkeeper and coach Weekly Mwale and held at Zambezi grounds in Hwange district last weekend, saw Squickers emerging winners after beating Msuna in the final.
Squickers is made up of mainly workers from the Hwange Colliery Water Pump Station.
Six teams took part in the two-day event that the organisers described as well attended.
The six teams were Kasase, Mashala, Makwa, Makwa Warriors and the finalists Squickers and Msuna.
According to Mwale, the teams were divided into two groups of three teams each where they then played in a round robin format with the top two sides from each group advancing to the semi-finals.
In Group A, Msuna and Kasase went through while Squickers and Mashala emerged top of Group B.
“Our first semi-finals saw Msuna beating Mashala 2-0 and progressing to the final to meet Squickes, who beat Kasase 1-0 in the other semi-final,” said the former Under-17 coach.
The final had to be decided through the dreaded penalty shootout after the two teams were tied 0-0 in regulation time and Squickers won 4-3 to walk away with a set of soccer uniforms.
For their efforts Msuna were given two soccer balls while third placed Mashala got a single ball.
“We selected a squad of 22 players whom we will slowly integrate into some of the teams in Division One here in Hwange and even the Premier League team itself, Hwange Football Club. During weekends where these Division One clubs are inactive, we shall bring the boys to town for some friendly matches and hopefully some of them will make it into the teams,” said Mwale.
Mwale said they have since engaged their former sons, Obert Moyo and Method Mwanjali who are playing in the Absa Premiership in South Africa with a view to having another tournament in December in a bid to tap the raw talent in rural Hwange.
Online Reporter