Chiwodza Secondary School, one of the teams to represent the Midlands Province at the Copa CocaCola boys Under-16 soccer finals in Victoria Falls, have vowed to stun urban schools and win the tournament which starts tomorrow.
The school will represent the province together with Manunure High School from Kwekwe who are the current champions.
Chiwodza, a satellite school from Chirumhanzu resettlement area which uses a farmhouse, compartmentalised into classrooms, stunned well established urban schools like Fletcher, Mandava and Batanai to win the provincial finals.
In the final, they beat yet another rural school Mupangayi from Shurugwi 3-2 in a heart-stopping penalty shootout.
The school nearly failed to attend the provincial finals after failing to secure transport and only did so after a well-wisher chipped in at the last minute. Chiwodza coach Isheanesu Dube, who won praises from FC Platinum coach Tendai Chikuni, said his boys had what it take to “embarrass” schools from other parts of the country.
Dube said his team put a stellar show at the provincial finals and that alone was enough to give him confidence of winning the national finals.
“We are not going there to make numbers. We have conquered the Midlands Province against all odds and I believe we have what it takes to go to the national finals and win. There is a lot of talent in our team which can bring us the results,” he said.
Dube said that there was nothing special about well-established urban and boarding schools that Chiwodza should be afraid of.
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“There is nothing special about those schools in the urban areas. They might have the facilities, but I believe we can match them for talent. There is a lot of talent in the rural areas and our performance at the provincial tournament is testimony of what I am saying,” Dube said.
Chiwodza are in Group B where they will meet representatives from Bulawayo and Manicaland. On the road to the provincial glory, Chiwodza beat hosts Mandava 2-0 in the first match and followed up with a 1-0 win over Fletcher before wrapping up the group matches with a 3-0 win over Gumunyu.
