Sports / Local
Bosso in scary form
18 Feb 2014 at 16:14hrs | Views
If the performance by former Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions Highlanders at Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo on Sunday is anything to go by, other top flight teams should really be scared.
Bosso, who were under the tutelage of stand-in gaffer Mark Mathe, started the match on a sluggish note before coming from behind to beat Harare City 2-1, after a vintage second half performance that reminded multitudes of its fans of the glory days when the boys in black and white were affectionately known as Bossolona, a play on the name of one of the world's best football outfits, Spanish giants Barcelona.
Although, Innocent Mapuranga was a pale shadow of himself and veteran midfielder Mthulisi Maphosa only found his form towards the end of the first half, Highlanders could have won by a wider margin had its forwards not fluffed a number of scoring opportunities, with attacking midfielder Kudakwashe Mahachi being the biggest culprit.
But the forays into the Harare City half made by Mahachi, who is proving to be a handful for defenders since he struck a rich vein of form when he turned out in national colours during the Orange African Nations Championship (Chan) where the Warriors were unlucky not to reach the final in South Africa, endeared the midfielder to the hard-to-please Bosso fans.
Mathe could be credited with outsmarting Harare City gaffer Bigboy Mawiwi on the basis of his tactical manouvres on Sunday, with the Highlanders stand-in coach revealing he had "deliberately congested the midfield as a strategy to counter Harare City's mobile midfield," a move that appeared to bear fruit as the visitors struggled to create clear cut scoring opportunities, unlike they did in the last meeting between the two sides last year - a 4-0 win for Harare City.
A tougher test awaits Bosso next weekend when they date their nemesis Dynamos in the final of the Bob90 Super Cup. But on the basis of their performance against Harare City on Sunday, Highlanders look like a team that is well capable of going toe-to-toe with Dynamos, who, like Bosso, have been on a massive recruitment drive in the off-season.
Bosso, who were under the tutelage of stand-in gaffer Mark Mathe, started the match on a sluggish note before coming from behind to beat Harare City 2-1, after a vintage second half performance that reminded multitudes of its fans of the glory days when the boys in black and white were affectionately known as Bossolona, a play on the name of one of the world's best football outfits, Spanish giants Barcelona.
Although, Innocent Mapuranga was a pale shadow of himself and veteran midfielder Mthulisi Maphosa only found his form towards the end of the first half, Highlanders could have won by a wider margin had its forwards not fluffed a number of scoring opportunities, with attacking midfielder Kudakwashe Mahachi being the biggest culprit.
But the forays into the Harare City half made by Mahachi, who is proving to be a handful for defenders since he struck a rich vein of form when he turned out in national colours during the Orange African Nations Championship (Chan) where the Warriors were unlucky not to reach the final in South Africa, endeared the midfielder to the hard-to-please Bosso fans.
Mathe could be credited with outsmarting Harare City gaffer Bigboy Mawiwi on the basis of his tactical manouvres on Sunday, with the Highlanders stand-in coach revealing he had "deliberately congested the midfield as a strategy to counter Harare City's mobile midfield," a move that appeared to bear fruit as the visitors struggled to create clear cut scoring opportunities, unlike they did in the last meeting between the two sides last year - a 4-0 win for Harare City.
A tougher test awaits Bosso next weekend when they date their nemesis Dynamos in the final of the Bob90 Super Cup. But on the basis of their performance against Harare City on Sunday, Highlanders look like a team that is well capable of going toe-to-toe with Dynamos, who, like Bosso, have been on a massive recruitment drive in the off-season.
Source - zimmail
