The Sunday News
Noel Munzabwa in Manzini, Swaziland
FORMER Warriors mentor and 1984 Super League winning coach with Black Rhinos, Shepherd Murape yesterday returned to the Swaziland soccer circles exactly 32 years after guiding the Zimbabwe national soccer team to the invitational regional tourney, King Sobhuza II Cup.
Quite a lot has changed since that victory scored by some of Zimbabwe’s soccer legends, some of them now late — a list that was captained by Sunday Chidzambwa (then Marimo), Misheck Chidzambwa, Madinda Ndlovu, Willard Khumalo (late), Stanford Mutizwa, Shacky Tauro and Joel Shambo, among others.
The then King Sobhuza II is now late and has been replaced by his equally football passion filled son King Mswati III, yet Murape upon return retains that success passion to fix the success starved popular hub town based Premier League of Swaziland outfit Manzini Wanderers and beamed with confidence during the unveiling ceremony held just before the dawn of the new year.
“It is a pleasure for me to return to Swaziland more than 30 years after my last visit. I was here with the Warriors in 1984 and remember vividly Sunday lifting the King Sobhuza II Cup. That last visit inspires me and I am ready to score success on the field once again.
“I am happy the team Manzini Wanderers has two Zimbabweans Takawira Chimwanda and Tawanda Chikuku in their ranks and that should be easy to impact my type of play to the players. Above the most important thing we will need to work together as a team from the fans, patrons, coaches and players.
“The team has not been performing well thus giving us all a target which is to improve the performance and hopefully we will have something to measure progress with,” said Murape in an interview.
The 66-year-old mentor promised to restore the club to its former status as one of the country’s top teams.
“The players here have what it takes to change the team’s fortunes. I have been here for less than a week but I can tell that we have a team. I would like very much to see Wanderers regain its leading position in Swazi soccer. My aim is to go out and win every match, starting from the very first one where I will be in charge. As a coach, my job will be to show that we can turn things around.”
When asked about his personal ambition this season, the former Black Leopards coach said he wanted to achieve the best possible position in the MTN Premier League and again compete fairly in the Swazi Bank Cup.
