ZIMBABWEAN players who starred at the just-ended Cosafa Cup regional football tournament in Zambia have attracted a lot of interest in the South African Premiership with striker Tendai Ndoro — one of the revelations of the tournament — already being assessed by Bidvest Wits.
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Ndoro — who leads the Premier Soccer League goalscorers’ chart with 11 goals — scored a memorable brace as the Warriors defeated Lesotho 2-1 to qualify for the final of the regional tournament.
His first goal was a great piece of technique which reminded many of former Ajax Amsterdam and Arsenal forward Dennis Bergkamp.
The Chicken Inn striker had his back to goal when a cross was flighted into the penalty area and had the power to push the ball away from a Lesotho defender and then swivelled to get his foot onto it before finding the target from the tightest of angles.
He then decided the contest, when he reacted quickest to a cross and snatched at the ball as the Lesotho centre-backs floundered.
He was deservedly voted man-of-the-match and flew to South Africa on Sunday for trials with Bidvest Wits. Another South African club — newly promoted Polokwane City — are also keen to swoop on the player.
Monomotapa midfielder Ronald Chitiyo, also voted man-of-thematch in the quarter-final tie against Malawi, has attracted interest in South Africa.
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Utility player Hardlife Zvirekwi, who stars for Caps United, could also be heading to South Africa following his blinding performance at the regional tournament in the 2-0 loss to Zambia in the final.
Ralph Nkomo — who represents a number of players in Zimbabwe and some stars in the African continent — said Polokwane City had been tracking Ndoro for the last three weeks.
“I was tasked to link up with the player so that they have a look at him and have been monitoring him in the past three weeks and when I saw him play at the Cosafa tournament, I was impressed by his instincts. He is quick and intelligent in the box. He is also strong and positions himself very well. He has drawn a lot of attention here.
“There is the No.7 (Ronald Chitiyo) and the No.5 (Hardlife Zvirekwi). They are very good players. We are working on contacting them so that they can come for trials,” said Nkomo.
Defender Felix Chindungwe, who also had a marvellous tournament in Zambia, is also expected to get an invite for trials from Mamelodi Sundowns while his teammate at Chicken Inn, Mkhokheli Dube, is already at Mpumalanga Black Aces for trials.
Zimbabwe lost 0-2 to Zambia in the final of the regional tournament on Sunday to surrender the title they won on home soil in 2009.
