Zimpapers Logo

TWO of Zimbabwe’s brightest football coaches, Norman Mapeza and Kaitano Tembo, clash in the South African Premiership today while Callisto Pasuwa needs just a win to win his sixth straight league title in Malawi tomorrow.

Mapeza has injected life into Chippa United since his arrival and, today, heir revival will be tested by Tembo’s SuperSport United who have dreams of becoming champions this season.

“When he [Tembo] played in Zim­babwe, I wasn’t around. I was in Europe. But we used to meet in the na­tional team,” Mapeza told the Daily Dispatch.

“He is a good friend of mine but this is foot­ball. He has been do­ing re­ally well with Su­per­Sport so we will work ex­tra hard be­cause of what he has achieved at Su­per­Sport.

“But I ex­pect a good game of foot­ball. I am sure we will want to play at­tack­ing foot­ball. I hope the best team on the day wins.”

Though Mapeza will be look­ing to press for­ward against Mat­sat­santsa, he is also wary that he needs to have a solid struc­ture all round.

“It’s very im­por­tant that we go out there and play a good game of foot­ball with lots of or­gan­i­sa­tion, es­pe­cially at the back, be­cause they have qual­ity strik­ers.

“Also to get more or­gan­ised in the mid­field and then add numbers when we go for­ward. I think if we ap­ply those things, we will get re­sults on Satur­day.”

The Port El­iz­a­beth based club are un­beaten in four matches in the league and will be look­ing to ex­tend that tally when they play the Pre­to­ria side.

But most im­por­tantly, Mapeza’s wish is to head into the Christ­mas break on a pos­i­tive note.

“We are play­ing a qual­ity side. I think Su­per­Sport is among the five big­gest teams in SA at the mo­ment.

“The guys have been to­gether for quite some time. I think they only had two ad­di­tions to the team this season, those guys who came from Or­lando Pi­rates.

“The guys have been to­gether for quite some time. I think they only had two ad­di­tions to the team this season, those guys who came from Or­lando Pi­rates.

“But for us, we have to keep the mo­men­tum go­ing. We have now gone four matches with­out los­ing.

“We need to go into the Christ­mas break with a pos­i­tive mind. We will go out there on Satur­day with the same de­sire, at­ti­tude and men­tal­ity and chase a pos­i­tive re­sult.”

Mapeza became the 233rd different coach to take charge of a club in the South African Premiership, which stretches back to 1996‚ when he joined Chippa.

The 47-year-old was the 115th foreign coach, and the 10th from Zimbabwe, to work in the ABSA PSL‚ following in the footsteps of Roy Barreto‚ Sunday Chidzambwa‚ Ian Gorowa‚ Bruce Grobbelaar‚ Wilfred Mugeyi‚ William Mugeyi‚ Shepherd Murape‚ Peter Nyama and MTN8 winner Tembo.

Of the 233 coaches‚ just over half have been South Africans.

The 118 South Africans are almost matched by the foreigners‚ who have come from 38 different countries.

There have been 13 English coaches‚ 12 from the Netherlands and 10 from Serbia.

Coaches from recent World Cup winning countries have been less attractive to local bosses. Coaches have also come from 13 different African countries.

In Malawi, Pasuwa will win his sixth straight league title should Nyasa Big Bullets beat TN Stars at home in Blantyre tomorrow.

The Bullets need victory to win a second straight title under the Zimbabwean coach.

They lead bitter rivals Be Forward Wanderers, who have an away game against lowly Mlatho Mponela, by a point with just one round of fixtures remaining.

The Malawian Super League comes to an end tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Kaizer Chiefs forward Khama Billiat recently reached 50 competitive appearances in Amakhosi colours.

Billiat joined Chiefs on a free transfer from Mamelodi Sundowns at the start of the 2018/19 season and played in his 50th match for the club when they beat Stellenbosch 4-0 earlier this month.

Though he has yet to lift any silverware with the Naturena-based outfit, the 29-year-old has been a key figure under both Ernst Middendorp and his predecessor Giovanni Solinas, who famously likened him to Barcelona stalwart Lionel Messi. – Sports Reporter/Daily Dispatch/Kick-Off