Who does he think he is?

Cosmas Zulu

Chicken Inn vs Ngezi Platinum (18/08/2018-Luveve Stadium)
Who does he think he is?  Ngezi Platinum coach  Tonderai Ndiraya delayed the match by 20 minutes.  

He was arguing that the match referee of the day is related to a member of FC Platinum.

Firstly, I would like to ask the Ngezi Platinum management; is this  professional behaviour? Is he going to do this suppose you win the league championship and participate in the African Safari Competition?

He wanted to decide who should officiate the match. Oh! help me God. If I was his chairman I was not going to tolerate this kind of childish behaviour.

As a former player and coach I’m sure he knows a number of siblings who played for different teams and faced each other and not on one occasion was a player left off the team because the club would be facing a team where he brother plays.

Munyaradzi Diya joined Highlanders at a time when his brother Tichaona was still in the Dynamos coaching department and if we are to go by Ndiraya’s line of argument, Highlanders were not supposed to sign Diya- a goalkeeper for that matter.

Back to the pitch
Highlights on the first half where in the 33th minute a cracker from man of the match Majika sailed over the bar, then in the 35th minute, what a one touch exchange of passing football from Chicken Inn players.

I last saw this in the 80s from the late David Phiri, Tito Paketh, late Willard  Khumalo who  used to display this kind of football where opposite supporters would even clap  and  salute.

I overheard   prominent businessman Worthwhile Mugabe saying “Ndiro bhora iri vakomana”. There were also dead ball situations at play resulting in both goals.

But Chicken Inn failed to utilise an extra man in the last 24 minutes when a Ngezi player got red carded.

As for Ngezi, getting  a  point was a good result for them. Half a loaf is better than nothing.

Security concern
The changing rooms for officials, referees and  players are free for all. Fans having access on this space, shouting, insulting match  officials and players in the presence of police.

Soon ugly, tragic scenes will be witnessed at Luveve stadium if security is not tightened.

Bulawayo Chiefs VS Harare City (Luveve Stadium 19/08/2018 )

The success of a team does not come from a knowledgeable coach. It comes from how much  players download the knowledge from the coach.

Harare City  players  have downloaded the art of drawing- with 11 draws out of 21 games.

They had  11 corners in this game, failed  to turn  a single one to a goal. This is a team with  the highest number of draws in the league. As for Chiefs, after watching the team on a number of games this season,  the boys are now showing some Premier League experience.

You can read the intention behind the moves they want to portray.

The turning point of the win by Chiefs came from a first  half save from the clever goalkeeper.

In the 15th minute, on  a one vs one situation he deceived a Harare City striker by sending his body to the right, opening the left side of the goal.

The striker thought he had a place to slot the ball only for the goalkeeper to block it for a  corner .

This was a world class save ladies and gentleman and this was a  game decider.

The distribution  art from this goalkeeper for the entire 90 minutes of the game was superb with the ball getting to the intended player.

Throw Ins
I also noticed that the two teams do not know how important this aspect is. Throw ins occur more frequently than any other type of set plays.

Defensive problems are always likely to occur if attacking players are left unmarked.

In this respect, the situation at throw ins is no different from any other defensive situation .

These are basic reasons:
Players do not seem to be aware that many goals are scored from throws  ins; players frequently lose concentration at throws  ins for the most of efficient  defending, throws involve implementation of the principles of defending, special tactical arrangements as in the case  with corners and free kicks near the penalty area.

Defending players should concentrate on three things; Move into marking positions while the ball is being retrieved, mark tight in the area of the ball including the thrower, place the player  receiving the ball under severe pressure .

This makes either control or one touch play difficult.

Did you know ?  Egypt was the first African country to participate  in the World Cup in 1934 in Italy. Let’s keep reading until next week. Feedback-  [email protected] /0773 842671