CAPS United head coach, Lloyd Chitembwe, was proud to see his charges making up the bulk of the national team that won the Cosafa Senior Challenge, last Sunday. (Pictured: From left. Tafadzwa Rusike, Ashley Rambanapasi, Method Mwanjali and Gilbert Mapemba)
It has proved that we have the best players in the land, he said. The Green Machine was the only team with a total of six players which included captain Ashley Rambanapasi, Method Mwanjali, Tafadzwa Rusike, Edmore Sibanda, Gilbert Mapemba and Nyasha Mushekwi playing in the regional tournament. Mushekwi impressed fans in the first match against Mauritius. But the striker suffered an injury that ruled him out of the matches that followed to finally make a heroes return on Sundays final, scoring a brace that empowered Zimbabwe of the championship title.
Defender Mwanjali, fought like a true warrior on a mission, as he captained the winning nation with a commendable display that was consistent throughout the competition. I am proud of how we have played as a team in the tournament, it is a great achievement to me, said Mwanjali. Sibandas name will go far. Winning the goalkeeper of the tournament award was on its own an achievement and hearing the crowds chanting his nickname, Zikeeper!!, as he walked to the podium will always bring echoes of success in his heart. Young Rusike will have something to smile about in the rest of his career having to look back and reminisce of the year he played for the winning national team as a promising teenager.
For Mapemba, the limelight at the Cosafa tournament provided him a platform to prove himself to those who doubted him, the supporters who knew him and those who heard of him.
Twenty-eight-year-old Rambanapasi will stand a proud captain in the MakepeKepe team after showing worth the recognition of Sunday Chidzambwas youthful side to prove that his career is not anywhere on the verge of retirement. A proud Chitembwe believes his charges show in the Cosafa tournament will not affect his team in a negative way but will help his charges form push for the targeted top four finish, this season.
I have never doubted their capability; there is nothing new we are going to teach them as Caps United. So long there is no injury they will be fit and all we need to do is welcome them back in the team and remind them to go out there and fight for what we set to achieve, said Chitembwe. What we had lacked as a team in the beginning was focus and the problems of the peoples misconception about the coach and the players. But now that it is now a thing of the past, the players have been focused at their game.
Post published in: Football