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Taurai Mangwiro

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
DESPITE making major signings, Harare City coach Taurai Mangwiro is not yet satisfied and still wants to add some more arsenal to his team. The Sunshine Boys will represent the country in the CAF Confederation Cup tournament.

The coach yesterday revealed he wants to boost his strike-force by adding one or two more players to complement Francisco Zekumbawira, Kuda Kumwala, William Manondo, Agrippa Murimba, Honey Chimutimunzeve and Martin Vengesayi.

The coach, who has also lost winger Talent Chawapihwa to ZPC Kariba after the midfielder failed to agree terms with the club, revealed that the departure of the player has affected his plans.

New signing, Raphael Manuvire, who ironically came from ZPC Kariba, plays on the left side of the midfield but Mangwiro said his arrival at the Sunshine Boys does not directly address the void left by Chawapihwa’s departure.

Harare City have since acquired the Dynamos duo of Blessing Moyo and Ronald Chitiyo and defenders Jimmy Tigere and Farai Madhanhanga.

They submitted their 26-man list to CAF before the December 31, 2015 deadline but they can still alter their squad until January 15.

This however, attracts a penalty fee of $500 for any name which would be changed or added.

“I feel we have done the right thing playing in Africa and also in the local league for you need to have two strong squads and that is what we have,” said Mangwiro.

“I still feel maybe one or two other additions should be done because I am looking at beefing up the attack.

“I am still not sure about the left side where we lost Talent Chawapihwa.

“Him (Chawapihwa) and Raphael, they are two totally different type of players.

“You would also want someone who has pace on the left side and that is what I am thinking about. Overall though, I still think it is still a balanced team.”

The Sunshine Boys will begin their African Safari flirtation with a home date against Madagascar’s AS Adema on February 13.

Yesterday, the coach saw his team lose 2-3 to the Warriors in a practice match at the National Sports Stadium.

And he said he was convinced he still has a lot of work to cover before plunging into battle next month.

Chitiyo, Manuvire, Madhananga, Zekumbawira, Manondo are part of the Warriors squad and yesterday featured against their teammates.

Mangwiro said the result of yesterday’s preparatory match was not an important thing.

“It is not about the result but assessing the kind of players you have and then taking it forward,” he said.

“You could see that we haven’t done much and you wouldn’t want to be blasting your players for failing to do certain things like defending from set pieces, it is an area that we haven’t covered and that’s how the Warriors punished us.

“We don’t have much time to prepare for our opening match, so a match like this will come in handy for us.”

Harare City got their goals through penalties courtesy of Murimba and Chimutimunzeve and made changes to the team three times.

In the team which first took to the pitch, Young Warriors goalkeeper Tatenda Munditi was in goals playing behind the defence quartet of Munyaradzi Diro Nyenye, Crispen Dickson, Jimmy Tigere and Temba Ndlovu.

Veteran workhorse James Jam and Tendai Samanja partnered as the two defensive midfielders while Vengesayi operated from the right and Benson Maglas on the left.

Strikers Kumwala and Murimba completed the team.

Goalkeeper Maxwell Nyamupangedengu and other players were then introduced before goalkeeper Tafadzwa Dube was thrown into the fray in the last third as the players had a feel of the game.

Mangwiro also spoke about the Warriors and said they are showing a lot of potential.

“I was very much impressed, especially the first 70 minutes,” said Mangwiro.

“It is not like that is the team the coach is going to use but I thought they showed a lot in terms of team organisation when they had and did not have the ball.

“I was very impressed with the way they played.

“I wouldn’t want to single out individuals but I thought I saw some cohesion in there.”

Harare City are still looking to play a friendly match with a competitive club outside Zimbabwe before they entertain the Malagasy opposition.

They have also expressed their willingness to play Champions League participants Chicken Inn.