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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

FC PLATINUM coach Norman Mapeza says the champions are shaping up well ahead of the defence of their title in the upcoming Castle Lager Premiership football season.

Mapeza, who was part of the over 40 coaches that attended the five-day Elite Coaches refresher coach aimed at validating CAF A coaching licences, that ended in Harare yesterday, is excited about his squad, especially the return of Perfect Chikwende to guide his youthful attack.

He said he was looking forward to the new season with the platinum miners, who are standing on the threshold of history after equaling Dynamos and Highlanders last season as the only teams in Zimbabwe to win four league titles on the trot.

FC Platinum will set a new record as the first-ever team to win the top-flight league five straight seasons if they maintain the momentum this year.

But Mapeza has refused to get carried away with the excitement. He has put his foot down during the pre-season and wants his players to maintain focus.

Mapeza anticipates tough competition this season, as most of the teams have been busy in the current transfer period beefing up their sides to challenge the platinum miners’ dominance.

“What is very important for us is to keep working hard, maintain the mentality we had last season and as the season progresses everybody wants to win something at the end of the day,” he said.

“Clubs that got promoted also want to win the championship and they don’t want to be relegated at the same time. So it’s all about working hard and having objectives.

“This is the time for us to have some objectives. What do we really want to achieve at the end of the day? That is what is important,” said Mapeza.

This makes this year’s pre-season all the more important for Mapeza’s side, who recently had a training camp in Bulawayo before returning home to Zvishavane to continue with their preparations.

In just under two weeks, FC Platinum will have their strength tested in a competitive environment when they face Bulawayo Chiefs in the season-opening Castle Challenge Cup at Mandava, on March 11.

The platinum miners have maintained the bulk of their squad including Soccer Star of the Year Walter Musona, Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya, Brian Banda, Gift Bello, Innocent Mucheneka and Panashe Mutimbanyoka.

They parted ways with five players ­this season among them veteran defender William Stima, Blessing Moyo, Evidence Tendayi, Nigel Makumbe who is back to Ngezi Platinum after a loan deal, and young Nigerian forward Abubakar Temitope Onifade dispatched on loan to newboys Simba Bhora.

Mapeza only added three new players following the reunion with Chikwende and the signing of ex-Dynamos and Cranborne Bullets winger Jarrison Selemani and Misheck Ngwenya from Triangle.

“We started our preparations, I think, second week of January. We had a week in Zvishavane, we had two weeks in Bulawayo and it was much to do with team bonding and then we came back to Zvishavane to continue with our preparations.

“The preparations have been going on very well and I am happy when the guys came back from off season they were all looking okay because I managed to give them something to do during the off-season, especially the last few weeks of the off-season. So the guys were looking okay,” said Mapeza.

“Then coming to the new guys, we only brought in three new players. But as for someone like Perfect, I think everybody knows about him. 

“We brought him because we just wanted him to help those youngsters.

“We have got guys like Thando (Ngwenya). They need guidance at the end of the day. So Perfect, I am sure, will give us another dimension in terms of attack.

“Then we brought Selemani from Cranborne Bullets. He is someone comfortable playing any position upfront. Then we have Misheck Ngwenya, a left-footed player. He was playing for Triangle.

“He can play as a left back; he can play as a centreback. So, those are the areas which I thought we needed reinforcement. That’s how far we have gone with our transfer business.”

Chikwende played a key role in FC Platinum’s third league title campaign in 2019 before he was snapped up by Tanzanian giants Simba Sports Club at the beginning of 2021.    

He had joined FC Platinum in 2019 from Bulawayo Chiefs and won the Castle Lager Premier League title the same season as well as the Castle Lager Challenge Cup.

Chikwende scored the solitary goal in the 1-0 victory against CAPS United at the National Sports Stadium in the last game of the 2019 season, which handed FC Platinum their third championship in a row.

But upon his return from Tanzania he retraced his footsteps back to Bulawayo Chiefs where he went on to win the Chibuku Super Cup last season.

The 29-year-old is one of the several players that have recently quit Chiefs after experiencing frustrations due to non-payment of their salaries and bonuses. Chikwende is savouring a reunion with the reigning Premiership football Coach of the Year Mapeza this season.

New winger, Selemani, was one of the key players in Dynamos’ survival during the difficult 2019 season after he was brought by Lloyd Chigowe at the start of the campaign.

The lanky winger thrives mostly on his pace down the flanks, dribbling, shooting and intelligent off-the-ball movement. He was 21-years-old when he joined DeMbare from AYSA.

Now 25, Selemani, who can be deployed either on the left or right flanks, appears to have matured enough to take up the challenge at FC Platinum, who have dominated domestic football for the last four seasons.

FC Platinum’s third signing Ngwenya is largely an unknown quantity. The 24-year-old leftback played at Triangle last season. Previously, he also had stints with Greenfuel FC and Chiredzi Stars FC in the ZIFA Eastern Region Division One.

The platinum miners are still looking to inject young blood from their Under-19 development side following the success they had with players like Ngwenya, who scored 10 goals in his debut topflight season.

The other products of the platinum miners’ development academy who are now key members of the senior team include Hagazio Magaya (22), Panashe Mutimbanyoka (21), Kelvin Mangiza (21) and Oscar Bhebhe (20).

“We have added some few guys but we still have to finalise everything because we have been busy with the 25-man squad, which is the senior players.

“Then we looked around and we have two or three guys from the Under-19 side as well, who I think need to be given the opportunity to play football. 

“So definitely we are going to introduce one or two guys into the squad this season,” said Mapeza.