The Sunday News
Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS defence stalwart Peter Muduhwa is such a robust man that you would be forgiven for thinking he eats bricks for breakfast, half-a-rock for lunch and stones for supper. Dessert? Cement.
At the age of 26, the man who leads Bosso’s back four takes no prisoners on the pitch. If there was an award for the most aggressive player, he would arguably be a serial winner together with former Bosso players, Herbert Dick and Mkhuphali Masuku, former Dynamos defence kingpin James Matola, among other yesteryear steely players.
Muduhwa, a 2016 Soccer Star of the Year finalist, is endowed with several hallmarks of a defensive player. A superior ball winning ability, vision, composure, an exceptional first touch and balance, you name it.
Muduhwa’s exploits in the previous seasons that threw then Caps United striker Leonard Tsipa and former Dynamos Cameroonian forward Christian Joel Epoupa into submission in the process frustrating them to be given red cards, has even caught the eye of former Warriors and Highlanders captain, Dazzy Kapenya whom his play is likened to.
To his credit Muduhwa was described by Kapenya, a 2002 Soccer Star of the Year, as a “very brilliant player.” Even Chicken Inn head coach Joey Antipas talks highly of Muduhwa’s belligerence and he reckoned that the player is an ideal central defender that any coach would love to have in his squad.
“Muduhwa is a great central defender that any coach would love to have in his team. For me he is a rock. He is a good game reader that plays well from the back. To be frank, I would like to have him in my team but due to the fact that he is a Highlanders player, I just have to lay my hands off,” said Antipas who is Zimbabwe’s reigning Coach of the Year.
With the news that free spending defending league champions FC Platinum are reportedly set to sign Muduhwa, the black and white camp has insisted that their Old Pumula-bred footie star was staying put.
“He (Muduhwa) still wants more with us. He still has a running contract with us. All I can say is that we have previously made it clear that no player is leaving,” said Highlanders media and communications officer Ronald Moyo.
Former Highlanders coach, Heindrikus Pieter de Jongh, who is now at FC Platinum, is also a strong admirer of Muduhwa who he coached at Bosso. It was recently reported that the Dutchman intended to complete Muduhwa’s transfer in the mid-season transfer window but the plans were ruined by the coronavirus outbreak. FC Platinum are also thought to be keen on swooping on the Highlanders pair of Tinashe Makanda and Brian Banda, who are believed to have already signed pre-contracts with the Zvishavane-based club.
