Opinion / Columnist
Can Bosso end the jinx? Match is live on Supersport 9
22 Oct 2013 at 04:55hrs | Views
THE blockbuster showdown between Highlanders and Dynamos at Barbourfields on Sunday has squeezed its way onto the SuperSport menu for live coverage in a weekend pregnant with high-profile matches in Africa and Europe likely to keep television viewers glued to their seats.
Maybe it's a measure of how huge the Battle of Zimbabwe is that SuperSport have, for the first time since local football matches started appearing on SuperSport 9, started running fliers on their channels - a week before the game explodes at Barbourfields - advising viewers that they will broadcast that match live.
The biggest game in the Castle Lager Premiership programme this year, likely to have a huge bearing on who wins the championship, comes in a weekend that appears to have been set aside for some of the biggest matches, on the continent and in Europe, with a number of epic contests set to capture the imagination of fans.
On Saturday, the Soweto Derby explodes at Soccer City in the biggest derby in South Africa, set to attract more than 80 000 fans, with interest in the match having been boosted by Orlando Pirates' heroics in eliminating Tunisian giants, Esperance, and qualifying for the final of the African Champions League.
Zimbabwe international striker, Takesure Chinyama, who left Pirates in July this year and joined Platinum Stars, is still the leading goal-scorer for the Buccaneers in the Champions League with his four goals giving him fourth place on the leading scorers' chart in which Alexis Yougouda Kada, of Coton Sport, is in the lead with seven goals.
Chiefs' fans will be hoping that another Zimbabwe international forward, Knowledge Musona, shrugs off a shoulder injury he picked when scoring a crucial goal for the Amakhosi at the weekend, to take his place in the team to take on Pirates in the Soweto Derby on Saturday.
On the same day, the biggest match in club football in the world today, will explode at the Camp Nou when Barcelona hosts Real Madrid in La Liga in a match loaded with plenty of sub-plots - Ronaldo versus Messi and Neymar versus Bale with the two coaches, on either side, featuring in their first El Clasico.
For good measure, we have the Zvishavane Derby on this weekend with FC Platinum taking on Shabanie Mine. On Sunday, the explosive weekend continues when the Tyne-Wear Derby erupts at the Stadium of Light when Sunderland host Newcastle, Chelsea date Manchester City and the Battle of Zimbabwe brings an expectant City of Kings, now oozing with confidence that this is the year their beloved Highlanders end a lengthy wait to be champions, to a virtual standstill.
Bosso, who have just found their form at the right time, lead the championship race with a two-point advantage over Dynamos and seasoned analysts believe that if they can win the game on Sunday, and open a five-point gap on their biggest rivals with four games to play, they would have done more than enough to be champions again.
Of course, most of the analysts haven't been watching the good work that dark horses Harare City have been doing and they remain only two points behind Bosso, which could still remain the difference even if Highlanders win on Sunday, and Bigboy Mawiwi and his men are also victorious in their home game against Buffaloes.
Crucially, the Sunshine City Boys will have a home match, against Bosso, in Week 29, with their other matches being against Black Rhinos (away), Motor Action (home) and CAPS United (away).
But respected analysts believe a Bosso bandwagon, fuelled by a victory over DeMbare that will all but end the Glamour Boys' interest in their defence of their league title, will be too much for Harare City to handle and that is why they believe the Real Deal is the contest at Barbourfields on Sunday.
Bosso have been stalked by the psychological demon that they haven't beaten Dynamos in a league match, in the past seven years, and their last victory came in the year that they were crowned champions in 2006 when they completed back-to-back victories over their bitter rivals by winning 1-0 in Harare and 2-0 in Bulawayo.
Kelvin Kaindu, though, will feel that if they can end that lengthy barren search for a victory over their rivals, by beating them at Barbourfields on Sunday, then his men will be full value for their championship status if they can hold on and win the league title at the end of the season.
The miserable run, knitted over seven years, has seen DeMbare winning six of the 13 league matches that have been played, since Bosso were last crowned champions, with the other seven matches ending in draws with no victory for the Bulawayo giants.
DeMbare have won three times, at Barbourfields, during that spell with the Glamour Boys winning 2-1 in 2007, winning 1-0 in 2009 and then being given a 3-0 winning margin, in the boardroom, after their match in September 2010 was abandoned when the Harare side rallied, after trailing for long periods in the match, to score twice, in a space of three of the final 10 minutes.
Bosso, though, can draw inspiration from the fact that they look like the better team, at the moment, and, crucially, they are unbeaten against their rivals, in league matches, in the past four games that have all ended in draws.
The last time Bosso lost to DeMbare, in a league match, was when they crumbled to a 1-3 defeat at Rufaro in October 2011 and, in the next four games, they have held their own in draws with the last three matches ending in identical 1-1 draws.
Bosso will probably feel they deserved more than a point, from the first game at Rufaro, when they led for a long period only to be denied by an equaliser scored by Partson Jaure deep in time added on.
Head-to-Head League Results Between Dynamos And Highlanders Since Bosso Were Champs
2007 – Highlanders 1, Dynamos 2; Dynamos 0, Highlanders 0
2008 – Highlanders 1, Dynamos 1; Dynamos 1, Highlanders 1
2009 – Dynamos 4, Highlanders 0; Highlanders 0, Dynamos 1
2010 – Dynamos 1, Highlanders 0; Highlanders 0, Dynamos 3
2011 – Highlanders 0, Dynamos 0; Dynamos 3, Highlanders 1
2012 – Highlanders 1, Dynamos 1; Dynamos 1, Highlanders 1
2013 – Dynamos 1, Highlanders 1
Dynamos stats
P W D L F A Pts
13 6 7 0 19 7 25
Bosso stats
P W D L F A Pts
13 0 7 6 7 19 7
Maybe it's a measure of how huge the Battle of Zimbabwe is that SuperSport have, for the first time since local football matches started appearing on SuperSport 9, started running fliers on their channels - a week before the game explodes at Barbourfields - advising viewers that they will broadcast that match live.
The biggest game in the Castle Lager Premiership programme this year, likely to have a huge bearing on who wins the championship, comes in a weekend that appears to have been set aside for some of the biggest matches, on the continent and in Europe, with a number of epic contests set to capture the imagination of fans.
On Saturday, the Soweto Derby explodes at Soccer City in the biggest derby in South Africa, set to attract more than 80 000 fans, with interest in the match having been boosted by Orlando Pirates' heroics in eliminating Tunisian giants, Esperance, and qualifying for the final of the African Champions League.
Zimbabwe international striker, Takesure Chinyama, who left Pirates in July this year and joined Platinum Stars, is still the leading goal-scorer for the Buccaneers in the Champions League with his four goals giving him fourth place on the leading scorers' chart in which Alexis Yougouda Kada, of Coton Sport, is in the lead with seven goals.
Chiefs' fans will be hoping that another Zimbabwe international forward, Knowledge Musona, shrugs off a shoulder injury he picked when scoring a crucial goal for the Amakhosi at the weekend, to take his place in the team to take on Pirates in the Soweto Derby on Saturday.
On the same day, the biggest match in club football in the world today, will explode at the Camp Nou when Barcelona hosts Real Madrid in La Liga in a match loaded with plenty of sub-plots - Ronaldo versus Messi and Neymar versus Bale with the two coaches, on either side, featuring in their first El Clasico.
For good measure, we have the Zvishavane Derby on this weekend with FC Platinum taking on Shabanie Mine. On Sunday, the explosive weekend continues when the Tyne-Wear Derby erupts at the Stadium of Light when Sunderland host Newcastle, Chelsea date Manchester City and the Battle of Zimbabwe brings an expectant City of Kings, now oozing with confidence that this is the year their beloved Highlanders end a lengthy wait to be champions, to a virtual standstill.
Bosso, who have just found their form at the right time, lead the championship race with a two-point advantage over Dynamos and seasoned analysts believe that if they can win the game on Sunday, and open a five-point gap on their biggest rivals with four games to play, they would have done more than enough to be champions again.
Of course, most of the analysts haven't been watching the good work that dark horses Harare City have been doing and they remain only two points behind Bosso, which could still remain the difference even if Highlanders win on Sunday, and Bigboy Mawiwi and his men are also victorious in their home game against Buffaloes.
Crucially, the Sunshine City Boys will have a home match, against Bosso, in Week 29, with their other matches being against Black Rhinos (away), Motor Action (home) and CAPS United (away).
But respected analysts believe a Bosso bandwagon, fuelled by a victory over DeMbare that will all but end the Glamour Boys' interest in their defence of their league title, will be too much for Harare City to handle and that is why they believe the Real Deal is the contest at Barbourfields on Sunday.
Kelvin Kaindu, though, will feel that if they can end that lengthy barren search for a victory over their rivals, by beating them at Barbourfields on Sunday, then his men will be full value for their championship status if they can hold on and win the league title at the end of the season.
The miserable run, knitted over seven years, has seen DeMbare winning six of the 13 league matches that have been played, since Bosso were last crowned champions, with the other seven matches ending in draws with no victory for the Bulawayo giants.
DeMbare have won three times, at Barbourfields, during that spell with the Glamour Boys winning 2-1 in 2007, winning 1-0 in 2009 and then being given a 3-0 winning margin, in the boardroom, after their match in September 2010 was abandoned when the Harare side rallied, after trailing for long periods in the match, to score twice, in a space of three of the final 10 minutes.
Bosso, though, can draw inspiration from the fact that they look like the better team, at the moment, and, crucially, they are unbeaten against their rivals, in league matches, in the past four games that have all ended in draws.
The last time Bosso lost to DeMbare, in a league match, was when they crumbled to a 1-3 defeat at Rufaro in October 2011 and, in the next four games, they have held their own in draws with the last three matches ending in identical 1-1 draws.
Bosso will probably feel they deserved more than a point, from the first game at Rufaro, when they led for a long period only to be denied by an equaliser scored by Partson Jaure deep in time added on.
Head-to-Head League Results Between Dynamos And Highlanders Since Bosso Were Champs
2007 – Highlanders 1, Dynamos 2; Dynamos 0, Highlanders 0
2008 – Highlanders 1, Dynamos 1; Dynamos 1, Highlanders 1
2009 – Dynamos 4, Highlanders 0; Highlanders 0, Dynamos 1
2010 – Dynamos 1, Highlanders 0; Highlanders 0, Dynamos 3
2011 – Highlanders 0, Dynamos 0; Dynamos 3, Highlanders 1
2012 – Highlanders 1, Dynamos 1; Dynamos 1, Highlanders 1
2013 – Dynamos 1, Highlanders 1
Dynamos stats
P W D L F A Pts
13 6 7 0 19 7 25
Bosso stats
P W D L F A Pts
13 0 7 6 7 19 7
Source - herald
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