Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Chibuku Super Cup match between ZPC Kariba and Harare City that was postponed following a spike in Covid-19 cases will now be played during the October 9-12 Fifa international window.
All other Premier Soccer League teams will be on a break and will use that time to improve their players’ fitness levels, as they didn’t have enough time for pre-season training.
Most teams had four weeks of training before resumption of the Chibuku Super Cup on September 29.
The PSL was forced to postpone the ZPC Kariba-Harare City encounter in June after the power generators’ players and members of the technical staff tested positive for Covid-19.
The match was rescheduled to July 7, but a spike in Covid-19 cases led to a lockdown and suspension of sporting activities.
Clubs resumed training on September 2, with others like Highlanders delaying by two weeks.
What has been evident is that players are rusty, their fitness levels are low and clubs are still working on combinations.
After watching his side play to a scrappy 1-1 draw against defending champions Highlanders on Sunday, Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas said: “Both teams are still trying to get fitness levels up. With time we’ll improve.”
Antipas said they have been using their last two matches to assess players and their last Group B match against Bulawayo Chiefs will be used to give other players a chance.
“To get players to improve on match fitness, you need game time. We’ll continue making rotations so that everybody gets a chance,” said Antipas.
Highlanders’ coach Mandla Mpofu, who is with the national team preparing for the World Cup qualifiers against Ghana, is confident that when games resume on October 16, his charges would have improved their fitness levels.
“The guys are responding well to training, improving with each day. We are not yet fully fit, but in these two weeks we will have gained about 65 to 75 percent fitness. Remember we started late, but it’s all about catching up,” said Mpofu.
Bulawayo City coach Philani Ncube was impressed by his players’ 2-1 win over Bulawayo Chiefs and said they want to build on that result.
City rested Wisdom Mutasa and started with Mgcini Sibanda and Tanaka Zinaka, who kept Chiefs’ backline on its toes.
Zinaka and Dalubuhle Dlodlo scored for City, with Billy Veremu finding the net for Chiefs.
“It’s good to see that we’re progressing well. After that 2-0 loss to Chicken Inn, we had to fix some of our defensive errors which cost us against Chicken Inn. Now we have to carry on working hard as we improve on combinations and fitness levels. We won’t break because we have to be fit when the league resumes on October 30,” said Ncube. — @ZililoR
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