YOUNG Warriors midfielder Marvellous Nakamba is yet to get his debut for Vitesse since completing his move to the Dutch top-flight football side last month.
ZIMBABWEANS ABROAD WITH HENRY MHARA
The 20-year-old has made just one appearance on the team sheet as an unused substitute in their 3-1 win over Excelsior last week. He was dropped from the final 18 that forced a 1-1 draw at home to Heerenveen on Saturday.
The highly-rated midfielder signed a four-year contract after passing trials with the club, which included a 20-minute role in a friendly match against English Premier League giants Chelsea.
“I will have to wait for my chance, but will try to be better and better. It’s difficult to get into the team because it is doing well,” the midfielder said as quoted by a local paper Omroep Gelderland.
Nakamba, formerly of Bantu Rovers, joined Vitesse from AS Nancy in France.
Still in Europe, Costa Nhamoinesu’s Czech Republic side Sparta Praha recovered from the midweek 3-1 home at Napoli in the Europa League to beat Hradec Králové by the same scoreline in the league on Sunday.
Nhamoinesu, who was to blame for one of Napoli’s goals when he conceded a penalty in Italy, was named in the starting eleven and played the whole match. His team is currently on second position with 16 points from eight matches, one behind log leaders Viktoria Plzeň.
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In Belgium, there were no wins for Quincy Antipas and Silas Songani whose sides Hobro and SønderjyskE were both held to one-all draws.
But it was Antipas’ Hobro side who continued to impress in the Danish SuperLiga as the promoted side were sitting pretty on fourth position with 15 points, three behind leaders Midtjylland after eight rounds of games.
Antipas, who was one of the team’s major signings, joining from Brøndby at the start of the season, has participated in all the eight matches — starting in six and scoring twice.
Songani has missed two matches for his side through injury, but has started in all the six he has been fit and has one goal to his name.
In England’s League 1, Tendai Darikwa’s highflying Chesterfield was brought back to earth after they were beaten 3-2 by Doncaster. Despite the defeat, Darikwa was one of the top performers of the match and was included in England’s The Star newspaper’s Team of the Week.
“Darikwa got into plenty of attacking positions and delivered plenty of ammunition as Chesterfield laid siege to the Doncaster area in the second half of a humdinger of a match. Still learning the right-back role, but he’s learning fast and learning well,” wrote The Star.
The 20-year-old, who was born in England of Zimbabwean parentage, has played every minute of the team’s eight matches this season, completing 720 minutes. Mike Temwanjira was a first half substitute for his Thai side Bangkok United who were beaten 3-0 by Chiangrai United at the weekend. The former Warriors man joined the team in the January transfer window from Romania where he was playing for relegated Vaslui.
The side was demoted from Liga I, the top level of Romanian football, despite finishing 5th on the log standings at the end of the 2013/14 season, prompting Temwanjira, now 32, to look for a club elsewhere.
He has played eight matches since joining, finding the back of the net twice.
In South Africa, the weekend was dominated by the MTN8 final between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates on Saturday evening, which the former won 1-0. Two Zimbabweans — Willard Katsande and Kingston Nkhata — started the match although the latter was substituted in the second half.
Katsande, however, was one of the outstanding players for his side and later described himself as the “engine” of the team.
“My job is to balance the team, to give cover to my back four as well as my forward players and to give them balance when they are going forward,” Katsande said.
The local media have also been lavishing praises for the gritty midfielder after his five-star performance. One of the leading websites described him as a “beast”.
“Much has been said of Reneilwe Letsholonyane and his impressive showing for Chiefs in Cup games as well as Absa Premiership encounters. Chiefs are unbeaten after six games in the PSL and “Yeye” has bagged six goals so far this season, four in the PSL and the other two coming from the MTN8 Cup games, but his ability to capitalise on these chances and play freely would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Willard Katsande. The midfielder put in yet another sensational performance in the final and the Zimbabwean revealed that he knows his role in the team . . . ” read part of their analysis of the match.
