National Under 23 football players Archford Gutu and Abbas Amidu sneaked out of the country at the weekend for a two-week trial stint with a Swedish Premiership side.
The Young Warriors duo are set to train with Kalmar which is currently on fifth position on that country’s 16-team top-flight league log standings and are still in the hunt for a Uefa Champions League ticket.
Kalmar have 29 points and are trailing log leaders Helsingborgs IF by nine points with 17 rounds of games having been played so far.
Only one team, the champions in the Swedish league is guaranteed a place in Europe’s most coveted club competition.
NewsDay Sport caught up with the Young Warriors duo at OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa on Saturday morning before boarding the same flight to Frankfurt where the two then connected to Sweden.
Gutu, who has been hopping from one country to the other trying to make that elusive breakthrough, said this should be his last chance to break into the money-spinning European league.
The Dynamos ace said: “I have been called for trials by many clubs in Africa and even in Europe in the last few months, and while some are still promising and want to have another look at me, others have just gone quiet. Another chance has presented itself for me to break into the European league and this time I want to do my best and hopefully everything will work out.”
Gutu was called for trials in Bulgaria last month before trying his luck at former South African Premiership champions early this month but it seems the two teams are dragging their feet in roping in the roving attacking midfielder.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Amidu will be making his second trip outside Zimbabwe in the space of a month for trials after trying his luck at South African Premiership side Moroka Swallows in the past few days.
Said Amidu: “This is a lifetime opportunity and I have to grab it with both hands. I know I’m capable of playing at that level, I will just have to go there and do my best.”
The powerful Black Mambas winger, whose contract with the struggling Premier League club expired yesterday, said he was still weighing his options before committing himself to the club again. Gutu and Amidu were part of the promising Young Warriors squad, dubbed the Golden Generation, but disappointingly crashed out of the All-Africa Games.
