THE man who shone brightest among the selected 11 Soccer Stars of the Year will be revealed at a banguet tonight.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
The winner of the coveted award, his first and second runner-up, the goalkeeper, coach and promising young footballer of the year have been kept a secret after voting on Monday by a panel of football writers, team captains and coaches.
There is stiff competition for the overall Castle Lager Footballer of the Year Award, with Chicken Inn captain Danny “Deco” Phiri, Highlanders striker Knox Mutizwa and Dynamos defender Ocean Mushure all in the race.
Phiri, however, is tipped to win the coveted award.
The defensive midfielder was the heartbeat of Chicken Inn as they defied odds to win their maiden championship two weeks ago. Without his leadership, power and influence, the GameCocks looked very ordinary and choked when it mattered.
They, however, still managed to reach the Promised Land and they owe much of that success to the leadership of Deco.
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But there is also Highlanders and Castle Lager Premiership top goalscorer Knox Mutizwa. For all Highlanders’ struggles this term, Mutizwa managed to score 14 goals in 17 starts winning the Golden Boot Award in the process.
Dynamos defender Mushure is also a strong contender. The Harare giants might have failed to defend their title which would have seen them win an unprecedented fifth successive championship, but the DeMbare full-back went beyond the call of duty.
There will also be an interesting battle for Goalkeeper of the Year between Dynamos shot stopper Tatenda Mukuruva and Chicken Inn goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze, who both made it to the 11 finalists.
Statistically, though, it is Chapungu goalkeeper Roy Mazingi who has a better average goals conceded ratio of 0,54 after letting in 13 goals in 24 matches. However, he didn’t even make it to the best 11 of the season.
Mukuruva has the second best ratio of 0,67 after he let in 14 goals in 21 matches, while Chipezeze is at 0,75 after conceding 21 goals in 28 matches. It is the panellists though who had the final say.
Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas looks set to win the Coach of the Year Award without any problem.
For the Most Promising Young Player, it could be a battle between Mukuruva and former Harare City striker Tino Kadewere, who is now based in Sweden.
Kadewere left the country early into the season, but had played the required number of matches and had done enough on the pitch to be eligible for the selection.
Only players under the age of 21 are eligible for this award.
