JOHANNESBURG South African based Zimbabwe international soccer midfielder Tinashe Nengomasha last week said friendship would be put aside when he comes against fellow countryman Benjani Mwaruwari in the Vodacom Challenge later this month.The tough-tackling midfielder added that he was fired up for the three-team tournament later this month involving Mwaruwaris English Premiership side Manchester City and arch-rivals Orlando Pirates and Kaiser Chiefs. Besides wanting to beat Orlando Pirates in the Derby in Port Elizabeth, I am just as excited about putting in a good showing against Manchester City in Durban on July 21, Nengomasha said in Johannesburg.
My Zimbabwean national captain Benjani Mwaruwari is likely to be in the Manchester City squad. We may both be Zimbabweans, but out on the field, we both want the best for our respective clubs, he added. The 27-year-old hardworking holding midfielder has played for South African glamour club Kaizer Chiefs in the Vodacom Challenge tournament since 2001.
My best memory of the Vodacom Challenge was helping Kaizer Chiefs to beat TP Mazembe in my first year with the club, he said. The Limpopo provincial capital of Polokwane will play host to the opening match between Orlando Pirates and Manchester City, at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, July 18 before Chiefs take on the visiting club at the ABSA Stadium in Durban three days later.
The winner of the Vodacom Challenge Soweto derby between Pirates and Chiefs on Thursday, July 23 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, will take on Manchester City in the showpiece final at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Tshwane on Saturday, July 25.
The annual Vodacom Challenge features Vodacom-sponsored teams Chiefs and Pirates and a visiting club.
Post published in: Football