Sports / Local
Bosso seek Caps revenge
07 Jul 2013 at 02:06hrs | Views
Premiership heavyweights Highlanders and Caps United begin their second half of the nail-biting Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign with a potentially explosive high-stakes duel at Babourfields this afternoon.
Makepekepe go into the match with a spring in their step, having won the reverse fixture 2-1 at the giant National Sports Stadium while revenge is high on Bosso's agenda.
Bosso are yet to taste victory in both league and cup competition since their hard-fought 1-0 triumph over Hwange at the Colliery on June 2 in a league match.
Kelvin Kaindu's charges have followed up the victory over Hwange with morale-shattering defeats to Chicken Inn, Caps United while a brief flirtation in the BancABC Sup8r ended at the hands of FC Platinum in the opening round and pressure is now mounting on the gaffer to consolidate Bosso's Premiership campaign.
Reports from the City of Kings and Queens over the past week were pointing to strife between players and management over unpaid winning bonuses but, as history has proved, boardroom issues always take the back seat whenever the two giants collide.
Caps United coach Taurai Mangwiro, who will do battle without his left-back and find of the season Ronald Pfumbidzai who has a thigh injury, Pride Tafirenyika who is down with a nagging knee problem and suspended gunman Tawanda Nyamandwe is under no illusion as to what is in store for him at Bosso's fortress ' Emagumeni.
"Highlanders do find themselves in very unfamiliar circumstances. Losing three games on the trot for a team that lost only once in the league last season is not easy at all.
"We have been in similar circumstances before in which we lost eight consecutive matches last year, so for them it is a genuine test of character and we know very well that they will throw everything in their armoury at us," Mangwiro warned.
"But we are ready for the big fight and we have been emphasising it to our players that they should not take to the field with a hangover from the reverse fixture as this is a totally new and different ball game."
Zambian Kaindu, who arrived on the local football management stage with a bang, guiding the nine-time Zimbabwean champions to a memorable 23-match unbeaten run, knows that another defeat will do severe damage to Bosso's title charge and is eager for a positive response from his troops.
Expectations are also very high in the Bulawayo camp, whose last walk to the podium for a gold medal was back on Independence Day of 2011 when they wrested the Uhuru Trophy but their last league triumph was delivered by Methembe Ndlovu in 2006.
"Seasons are different, my brother in Christ. Many expected us to replicate the performance of last season and steam-roll past our opponents without defeat but that is not happening, " said Kaindu..
"All the same, I still think the team is in a fairly better position to challenge for honours and the family must not panic. The challenge is for us to correct our mental aspect of the game and take to the field with a positive mind against Caps," he added.
Kaindu, who will miss the hub on which Highlanders' fast-paced game is anchored in stylish Peter "Rio" Moyo and Dumisani Ndlovu, said Matengwane need not worry as he reckons there is enough cover for the duo.
"Rio and Dumi have done extremely well in all the games but their absence is actually an opportunity for other players to be counted. Otherwise everyone is available for selection, including Mthulisi (Maphosa, who missed last week's defeat to FC Platinum)."
Warriors captain Masimba Mambare will want to sign off in style before leading the senior national team's top domestic select for conquest at the Cosafa Cup in Zambia this week. Slippery striker Milton Ncube, who scored Bosso's solitary goal in the reverse encounter, is also another player expected to give the visitors a busy afternoon.
Bosso will however need to find a way to contain the fiery Caps United attack of club top scorer Dumisani Chungwa and trusted gunslinger Leonard Fiyado. The duo registered 10 goals between them in the first 15 games of the season.
Former Soccer Star of the Year and Zimbabwe international forward Stewart "Shutto" Murisa said he was wishing the Green Machine the best of luck in their league campaign this season.
Murisa drove into Harare from his Durban base yesterday afternoon and headed straight to Morris Depot to watch his close friend and former teammate Gift "Umbro" Muzadzi's Triangle take on Black Mambas.
Muzadzi is Triangle's goalkeepers' trainer.
"If I had arrived earlier I would have travelled to Bulawayo to witness this cracker.
"Of course I also played for Bosso, but I am Makepekepe through and through. It has been a long time since I watched Zim football," said Murisa, who is on a two-week holiday.
Makepekepe go into the match with a spring in their step, having won the reverse fixture 2-1 at the giant National Sports Stadium while revenge is high on Bosso's agenda.
Bosso are yet to taste victory in both league and cup competition since their hard-fought 1-0 triumph over Hwange at the Colliery on June 2 in a league match.
Kelvin Kaindu's charges have followed up the victory over Hwange with morale-shattering defeats to Chicken Inn, Caps United while a brief flirtation in the BancABC Sup8r ended at the hands of FC Platinum in the opening round and pressure is now mounting on the gaffer to consolidate Bosso's Premiership campaign.
Reports from the City of Kings and Queens over the past week were pointing to strife between players and management over unpaid winning bonuses but, as history has proved, boardroom issues always take the back seat whenever the two giants collide.
Caps United coach Taurai Mangwiro, who will do battle without his left-back and find of the season Ronald Pfumbidzai who has a thigh injury, Pride Tafirenyika who is down with a nagging knee problem and suspended gunman Tawanda Nyamandwe is under no illusion as to what is in store for him at Bosso's fortress ' Emagumeni.
"Highlanders do find themselves in very unfamiliar circumstances. Losing three games on the trot for a team that lost only once in the league last season is not easy at all.
"We have been in similar circumstances before in which we lost eight consecutive matches last year, so for them it is a genuine test of character and we know very well that they will throw everything in their armoury at us," Mangwiro warned.
"But we are ready for the big fight and we have been emphasising it to our players that they should not take to the field with a hangover from the reverse fixture as this is a totally new and different ball game."
Zambian Kaindu, who arrived on the local football management stage with a bang, guiding the nine-time Zimbabwean champions to a memorable 23-match unbeaten run, knows that another defeat will do severe damage to Bosso's title charge and is eager for a positive response from his troops.
Expectations are also very high in the Bulawayo camp, whose last walk to the podium for a gold medal was back on Independence Day of 2011 when they wrested the Uhuru Trophy but their last league triumph was delivered by Methembe Ndlovu in 2006.
"Seasons are different, my brother in Christ. Many expected us to replicate the performance of last season and steam-roll past our opponents without defeat but that is not happening, " said Kaindu..
"All the same, I still think the team is in a fairly better position to challenge for honours and the family must not panic. The challenge is for us to correct our mental aspect of the game and take to the field with a positive mind against Caps," he added.
Kaindu, who will miss the hub on which Highlanders' fast-paced game is anchored in stylish Peter "Rio" Moyo and Dumisani Ndlovu, said Matengwane need not worry as he reckons there is enough cover for the duo.
"Rio and Dumi have done extremely well in all the games but their absence is actually an opportunity for other players to be counted. Otherwise everyone is available for selection, including Mthulisi (Maphosa, who missed last week's defeat to FC Platinum)."
Warriors captain Masimba Mambare will want to sign off in style before leading the senior national team's top domestic select for conquest at the Cosafa Cup in Zambia this week. Slippery striker Milton Ncube, who scored Bosso's solitary goal in the reverse encounter, is also another player expected to give the visitors a busy afternoon.
Bosso will however need to find a way to contain the fiery Caps United attack of club top scorer Dumisani Chungwa and trusted gunslinger Leonard Fiyado. The duo registered 10 goals between them in the first 15 games of the season.
Former Soccer Star of the Year and Zimbabwe international forward Stewart "Shutto" Murisa said he was wishing the Green Machine the best of luck in their league campaign this season.
Murisa drove into Harare from his Durban base yesterday afternoon and headed straight to Morris Depot to watch his close friend and former teammate Gift "Umbro" Muzadzi's Triangle take on Black Mambas.
Muzadzi is Triangle's goalkeepers' trainer.
"If I had arrived earlier I would have travelled to Bulawayo to witness this cracker.
"Of course I also played for Bosso, but I am Makepekepe through and through. It has been a long time since I watched Zim football," said Murisa, who is on a two-week holiday.
Source - sundaymail
