DYNAMOS skipper Ocean Mushure said he was disappointed and felt cheated after missing on the Castle Lager Premier League Soccer Star of the Year award at a ceremony held in the capital on Saturday night.
BY HENRY MHARA
The top individual accolade in local football went to FC Platinum attacking midfielder Rodwell Chinyengetere, beating his teammate Kevin Moyo, who took the first runners’-up, while Mushure came third to take the second runner-up award.
The awards were voted by a panel of journalists, coaches and captains of all the 18 Premier Soccer League teams.
Speaking to NewsDay Sport after the ceremony, Mushure expressed discontent for coming out third, as he believed he had done enough to land the top gong,
Asked to share his feeling on the awards, Mushure said: “I’m not really happy to be voted the second runner-up. I thought I deserved better because of the contribution I made to the team this season. Compare the work that I did with the quality that was around me, and that of those who have been chosen ahead of me, I think I did better.”
He added: “I thought I did everything that was required of me as a leader of a team this season, and even contributed a lot to the national team. I won the Cosafa Cup, which might not count much on these awards, but the mere fact that I was called to the national team.
“Football wise, I think I was way better than them. So maybe the panel was looking at other things, otherwise I did better.
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The panellists should be rational when choosing the best players of the season. But that is football, it happens and I will have to accept it. I will continue working hard and hopefully, I will get it next time.”
Mushure was a huge influence in Dynamos’ season where the team defied odds to finish second, just two points behind eventual champions FC Platinum.
The 32-year-old is credited for leading a poorly assembled side in their most difficult season, in which many had predicted they would fight relegation.
He started the season as a left-back, before he was pushed up-field to play as a left winger and managed to score nine goals to finish fifth on the top goal scorers’ list.
Dynamos coach Lloyd Mutasa, who assembled the team from mostly unknown quantities and turned them into championship contenders, was beaten to the Coach of the Year award by title-winning mentor Norman Mapeza.
But unlike Mushure, Mutasa though admitting that he deserved to have been recognised for all the efforts that he put in the season, has no hard feelings.
Mapeza was rewarded for leading his team, as they became the first club outside the big two cities Harare and Bulawayo to win the coveted trophy.
It was a special moment for the former Warriors captain who missed on the award in 2008 after leading a modest Monomotapa to the title.
But he was disqualified from the selection for indiscipline after he clashed with a supporter.
Awards winners list
Soccer Star of the Year: Rodwell Chinyengetere
First Runner-Up: Kelvin Moyo
Second Runner-Up: Ocean Mushure
Goalkeeper of the Year: Elvis Chipezeze
Rookie of the Year: Leeroy Mavunga
Coach of the Year: Norman Mapeza
Most Disciplined Team: Triangle
Referee of the Year: Ruzive Ruzive
Golden Boot Award: Dominic Chungwa
Soccer Stars of the Year: Rodwell Chinyengetere, Kelvin Moyo, Christian Ntouba, Ocean Mushure, Tichaona Mabvura, Terrence
Dzvukamanja, Qadr Amini, Clemence Matawu, Moses Jackson, Dominic Chungwa, Devon Chafa
