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Abbas Amidu

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Editor
Forty-eight hours after his superb brace sunk North African giants Zamalek in the CAF Champions League, CAPS United striker Abbas Amidu is a wanted man.

Amidu scored a crucial double for Makepekepe in their 3-1 win over the five-time African champions at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday to ignite stronger interests from the Egyptians and three other clubs who have been monitoring him from Libya and Tunisia.

According to sources, one of the unnamed Tunisian teams is also interested in midfielder Ronald Chitiyo, who has also had a remarkable run in the competition with four goals to his name.

“There are two clubs from Tunisia and another one from Libya that have made inquiries, but nothing concrete has been discussed as yet. “Zamalek were also charmed by Amidu. Remember he is the same man who has been scoring important goals in this competition?

“They have been in touch with the CAPS United secretariat. The club is scheduled to leave today, but two of their top officials will remain behind just to discuss the possibilities with Makepekepe.

“From the look of things CAPS United are willing to sell the player and Abbas himself wants new opportunities in his career,” said the source.

Abbas has scored three goals now in the tournament. However, his manager George Deda yesterday could not give away much on the latest developments. Deda said Abbas was focused on his job at CAPS United as he still has 16 months left on his two-year contract.

“I cannot say much because I have not heard anything formal from the club. That’s where all the correspondence goes, so I can only hear from them.

“But I cannot rule out the possibilities because this boy has been playing splendid football this year. If they bring offers to the table, obviously we will have to sit down with the CAPS United officials and see what is best for the player. “I have worked with him for the past three years now and I can only recommend what is best for his career,” said Deda.

Makepekepe resuscitated their campaign with a win over Zamalek on Sunday at the National Sports Stadium after climbing to third in Group B with one game to go.

Captain Hardlife Zvirekwi reckoned it was a mountain to climb for them to qualify for the quarter-finals. “It’s a great win for us considering that these are five-time champions. So, it’s massive for us. I hope it will continue to boost us as we prepare for the USM Alger match.

“We still have to keep on believing that it’s a mission possible. Obviously, we are going back to training and work hard and we are going there to grind a positive result, which is three points.

“We have not won an away match yet, but I think it all goes down to mental strength. We have to go there and show character, a very big heart so that we can grind a result there,” said Zvirekwi.

Assistant coach Fungai Kwashi also believes in his team. “If you look at the game against Tripoli we created so many chances especially in the first half we could have gone 4-0 or 5-0 up. Our conversion rate in that game wasn’t good.

“(But) In the Champions League you have to learn very fast because we are playing with high quality teams that have quality players. Any mistake you make you will be punished.

“We are learning as we go and we will keep on working hard, we will keep on pushing and we will keep on praising God because without God we could not have got this victory (against Zamalek).

“Records are meant to be broken. We can go there, do well and win away from home. Last week, Zambia lost to Mozambique at home and a record was broken.

“The other week Nigeria were beaten by South Africa in their own backyard. So in modern football there is nothing like home or away. It’s all about working hard, giving everything you have in your tank and grinding out results,” said Kwashi.