Zimbabwe football international Ovidy Karuru is facing life in the French National Division if his Ligue 2 team US Boulogne does not pick up maximum points in the remaining seven games of the 2011/2012 season.
Boulogne lie in 19th position in the Ligue 2 standings with 31 points from 31 matches, having managed just six wins, drawn 13 and lost 12, in the process scoring 31 times and conceding 37 times. On Good Friday, they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Istres.
With just seven games left, they need to claim at least seven points to avoid the drop to the third-tier division.
Karuru (23) has played 25 games this season, 13 of them from the starting line-up and 12 from the substitutes’ bench and has hit the net six times playing as an attacking midfielder.
The nearest team is Le Mans in 18th position with 36 points, Le Havre also have the same number of points in 17th position while Metz and Angers share 37 points in 16th and 15th positions respectively.
Amiens anchor the standings with 20 points and are definite candidates for the chop.
Life has generally not been easy for Zimbabweans in Europe this season as evidenced by top Warriors striker Knowledge Musona’s struggles at German Bundesliga side Hoffeinheim.
Hoffeinheim having changed coaches at the beginning of the year and brought in former German international Markus Babbel, Musona must have thought the gods were smiling on him, but it seems he has not done enough to impress the technical team.
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He has played just 12 times this season and once in the German Cup, scoring in that match last October.
He was not even on the 18-man team list for Saturday’s 2-1 win against Kaiserslautern away from home and it remains to been seen if he will be included for tonight’s encounter against 10th-placed Hamburg at home.
Dickson Choto, who plays for Legia Warsaw in the Polish Ekstraklasa, was an unused substitute when his team beat Ruch Chorzow 2-0 on Saturday. Striker Musa Mguni of Terek Grozny is injured and is not featuring in the Russian play-offs.
In Cyprus, Warriors defender Noel Kaseke played the full game as Omonia lost 2-0 to AEL in the top-flight league.
In Belgium, Vusa Nyoni, an ever-present player for Germinal Beerschot, provided an assist for Conor Laerenbergh in the 86th minute as their team routed Lokeren 4-1 in the Jupile League Group B Europa League play-offs.
Forgotten former Highlanders midfielder Honour Gombani did not feature in Cercle Brugge’s 6-4 win over OH Leuven in the Group A Europa League play offs.
For coaches, former Warriors gaffer Madinda Ndlovu remains on course for his first-ever league title as his charges Mochudi Centre Chiefs are 12 points afloat at the top of the be Mobile Premier League in Botswana.
They thumped Miscellaneous 5-0 at the weekend to leave second-placed Township Rollers and third-placed Botswana Meat Commission, who have a game in hand, 12 points behind.
