Sports / Local
Bosso's Njabulo 'Tshiki' Ncube returns
06 Nov 2013 at 02:22hrs | Views
NJABULO "Tshiki" Ncube is Highlanders biggest hope of triumph in a Mbada Diamonds Cup semi-final at Mandava Stadium on Saturday.
Ncube is serving a two-match league ban after picking a red card in the epic league match against Dynamos at Barbourfields Stadium on 27 October and missed Highlanders' Premiership draw with Motor Action on Sunday.
The suspension is for league matches meaning that he will be available for the Mbada Diamonds Cup against Harare City who are also chasing a league and cup double.
After the Mandava game, "Tshiki" will then miss Highlanders' home league match against Triangle and will return to Premiership action when Bosso travel to the capital for their Week 29 fixture against Harare City.
The striker who has eight league goals and one cup goal in his account said he is happy to return to action and is looking forward to propelling the Bulawayo giants to their first Mbada Diamonds Cup final.
Ncube seems to be motivated by the huge purse that goes with being in the final and believes that the Highlanders family can find solace in winning the Mbada Diamonds Cup should they fail to land the Premiership.
"To be honest, as much as I believe we can win the league title should other teams beat the top two teams (Dynamos and Harare City) and we win our matches, I think we have a real deal in landing the Mbada Diamonds Cup. This is not to say we will fight for the Mbada Diamonds Cup only but the championship race is no longer in our hands as we have to depend on other clubs doing the job for us. We blew a chance to go on top of the log at the weekend when we were held by Motor Action and such opportunities rarely come.
"We are going to continue with our title fight until the last whistle of the season but what I want to assure our fans is that we are ready to go to battle and bring silverware to Bosso. We know Harare City are tricky customers but I believe we have more to lose than them and we cannot end this season without a major trophy. That Mbada Diamonds Cup first prize will be a perfect Christmas bonus for us," said Ncube.
Football enthusiasts should brace for an exciting showdown as the competition approaches the final stages with the thought of the huge purse and a sponsored trip to Africa likely to inspire teams to give their best.
The winners of the tournament will take home a cool $130 000 and there is a $110 000 subsidy for their Caf Confederation Cup participation.
Losing finalists will walk away with $90 000 for their efforts, which is more than what the league championship winners will be rewarded with. The winners of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League will get $70 000.
Losing semi-finalists are guaranteed $45 000 each.
The other semi-final match will feature former "Cup Kings" Caps United who will play host to How Mine at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Besides players getting a fare share of the cake after the Mbada Diamonds Cup, Ncube revealed that head coach Kelvin Kaindu has encouraged them to fight hard so that they justify their cause of being part of the squad next season.
"Look, we earn a living through playing soccer and we are approaching the end of the year which means that some of us our contracts will be running out. The coach has been telling us at training that we need to work hard, impress him so that it becomes difficult for him to leave us out of his plans for next season. For that reason, the guys are pumped up, they are raring to go and want to make the coach's life easy by winning something this season," said Ncube.
He knows very well that the Bigboy Mawiwi coached Harare City will not be pushovers.
The Sunshine City boys have a number of experienced players that are capable of leading them to glory in the form of goalkeeper Maxwell Nyamupanedengu, seasoned defender David Kutyauripo, Soccer Star of the Year contender James Jam, national team's Silas Songani and skipper Godfrey Nguwodzawo.
They also have former Monomotapa striker Osbourne Mukuradare who scored a hattrick against Highlanders in 2012 when Bosso suffered their first league defeat of the season.
However, Ncube believes that they also have equally good players who are driven by the desire to win.
Some of the players that have been driving Bosso include goalkeeper Munyaradzi Diya, captain Innocent Mapuranga, Bruce Kangwa, Mthulisi Maphosa, Peter "Rio" Moyo and at times Masimba Mambare.
Mbada Diamonds Cup Fixtures
Saturday: Harare City v Highlanders (Mandava)
Sunday: Caps United v How Mine (National Sports Stadium)
Ncube is serving a two-match league ban after picking a red card in the epic league match against Dynamos at Barbourfields Stadium on 27 October and missed Highlanders' Premiership draw with Motor Action on Sunday.
The suspension is for league matches meaning that he will be available for the Mbada Diamonds Cup against Harare City who are also chasing a league and cup double.
After the Mandava game, "Tshiki" will then miss Highlanders' home league match against Triangle and will return to Premiership action when Bosso travel to the capital for their Week 29 fixture against Harare City.
The striker who has eight league goals and one cup goal in his account said he is happy to return to action and is looking forward to propelling the Bulawayo giants to their first Mbada Diamonds Cup final.
Ncube seems to be motivated by the huge purse that goes with being in the final and believes that the Highlanders family can find solace in winning the Mbada Diamonds Cup should they fail to land the Premiership.
"To be honest, as much as I believe we can win the league title should other teams beat the top two teams (Dynamos and Harare City) and we win our matches, I think we have a real deal in landing the Mbada Diamonds Cup. This is not to say we will fight for the Mbada Diamonds Cup only but the championship race is no longer in our hands as we have to depend on other clubs doing the job for us. We blew a chance to go on top of the log at the weekend when we were held by Motor Action and such opportunities rarely come.
"We are going to continue with our title fight until the last whistle of the season but what I want to assure our fans is that we are ready to go to battle and bring silverware to Bosso. We know Harare City are tricky customers but I believe we have more to lose than them and we cannot end this season without a major trophy. That Mbada Diamonds Cup first prize will be a perfect Christmas bonus for us," said Ncube.
Football enthusiasts should brace for an exciting showdown as the competition approaches the final stages with the thought of the huge purse and a sponsored trip to Africa likely to inspire teams to give their best.
The winners of the tournament will take home a cool $130 000 and there is a $110 000 subsidy for their Caf Confederation Cup participation.
Losing finalists will walk away with $90 000 for their efforts, which is more than what the league championship winners will be rewarded with. The winners of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League will get $70 000.
Losing semi-finalists are guaranteed $45 000 each.
The other semi-final match will feature former "Cup Kings" Caps United who will play host to How Mine at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Besides players getting a fare share of the cake after the Mbada Diamonds Cup, Ncube revealed that head coach Kelvin Kaindu has encouraged them to fight hard so that they justify their cause of being part of the squad next season.
"Look, we earn a living through playing soccer and we are approaching the end of the year which means that some of us our contracts will be running out. The coach has been telling us at training that we need to work hard, impress him so that it becomes difficult for him to leave us out of his plans for next season. For that reason, the guys are pumped up, they are raring to go and want to make the coach's life easy by winning something this season," said Ncube.
He knows very well that the Bigboy Mawiwi coached Harare City will not be pushovers.
The Sunshine City boys have a number of experienced players that are capable of leading them to glory in the form of goalkeeper Maxwell Nyamupanedengu, seasoned defender David Kutyauripo, Soccer Star of the Year contender James Jam, national team's Silas Songani and skipper Godfrey Nguwodzawo.
They also have former Monomotapa striker Osbourne Mukuradare who scored a hattrick against Highlanders in 2012 when Bosso suffered their first league defeat of the season.
However, Ncube believes that they also have equally good players who are driven by the desire to win.
Some of the players that have been driving Bosso include goalkeeper Munyaradzi Diya, captain Innocent Mapuranga, Bruce Kangwa, Mthulisi Maphosa, Peter "Rio" Moyo and at times Masimba Mambare.
Mbada Diamonds Cup Fixtures
Saturday: Harare City v Highlanders (Mandava)
Sunday: Caps United v How Mine (National Sports Stadium)
Source - chronicle
