The Sunday News
Nigel Siziba, Sunday Life Reporter
FORMER Chicken Inn midfielder, Tafadzwa Kutinyu is positive about the upcoming season with his new Club Azam United in Tanzania.
At Azam, Kutinyu joins fellow Zimbabweans, Bruce Kangwa and Donald Ngoma. The lanky midfielder who moved to Tanzania in 2017 from the Gamecocks has found the going challenging and competitive.
“The league in Tanzania is a bit different from Zimbabwe because this side is competitive and very hard compared to Zimbabwean league,’’ he said.
The fact that he is a foreigner has not stopped him from reaching his full potential and express himself as a player.
“You know if you are a foreigner you are required to work extra hard and that is what I have done so that I get more game time and I kept improving day by day,” he said.
Kutinyu further said he was elated to be chosen among the best on his very first season.
“I felt great to be on the best eleven since it was my first season to be in the Tanzanian league and that boosted my confidence going to my second season even though I still need to adapt to my new team but I will keep pushing and praying to God that I do not get a serious injury which kicks off on 22 August,’’ Kutinyu said.
Even though he has managed to dribble past every obstacle language has always stopped him in his tracks as he hardly speaks Swahili and a good number of players cannot speak English.
“In terms of language it is very difficult because the majority of players speak Swahili and some of them cannot utter even a word of English, so there is nothing I can do but to speak their language and now I can speak a bit of Swahili,’’ he said.
Asked how he feels joining the likes of Kangwa and Ngoma he expressed his delight at the opportunity to be at the same club with fellow Zimbabweans.
“It feels good because they are my friends and also brothers at the same time we always stick together and fight for each other on any circumstance and I think we will work well together,” he said.
Kutinyu still has ambitions of making a return to the senior national team and has placed his future involvement with the Warriors in the hands of the Almighty.
