FC PLATINUM are back in the country following a fruitful pre-season tour of Zambia where they played two friendly matches against two of Zambia’s top clubs, Zanaco and Power Dynamos, over the weekend.
Report by Ephraim Shoko
The Zvishavane outfit arrived in the country on Monday evening after beating Zanaco 3-1 and Power Dynamos 3-0 in friendly matches that were played in Lusaka and Kitwe on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Reigning Castle Lager Premier Soccer League top goalscorer Nelson Mazivisa, who is returning to Platinum after a season’s loan to rivals Shabanie Mine, continued with his scoring form netting a brace in the 3-1 win against Zanaco.
Joel Ngodzo had equalised for the platinum miners with his first touch from the substitute’s bench before Mazivisa made it 3-1 with his brace.
Charles Sibanda had a memorable outing in Zambia after powering Platinum to a 3-0 win over Power Dynamos with a brace, before Ngodzo grabbed his second goal.
“It was good performance and I was impressed with our new signings particularly our goalkeeper Petros (Mhari) who pulled some fine saves during both matches. The twins Elvis and Kelvin also had a good run as well as Mazivisa and Raymond (Sibanda).
“The old guys did not disappoint either as they gave a good account of themselves with Joel (Ngodzo) and Charles Sibanda ending the tour with two goals each. Overall it was a good performance. We scored six and conceded just one goal,” Chikuni said.
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“There is still a lot of work to be done. The Zambia tour was an eye opener as it showed us the areas we need to work on. Like I said, we have still a long way to go because we need to work on the combinations and perfect them so that when the season starts we will be an oiled machine,” he said.
Asked about the team’s title chances this coming season Chikuni, who was interim coach last season and is now assisting Tenant Chilumba, said it was too early to be discussing their ambitions as doing so would put the players under undue pressure
“Title talk at the moment will put us under pressure. At the moment our efforts are on building the players’ mental strength, match fitness and endurance levels. We are also looking at perfecting combinations so we shall have more friendly matches lined up,” he added.
Prior to the Zambia trip, Platinum played ZPC Kariba in a friendly match in which the Zvishavane side triumphed 3-0.
