BY HENRY MHARA/FORTUNE MBELE
VALENTINE “V11” Kadonzvo’s move to Chicken Inn from Dynamos in the transfer window was not without controversy and as the two sides meet in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League at Barbourfields Stadium this afternoon, the midfielder will be the centre of attention.
The Harare football giants claimed that they were duped by Kadonzvo into issuing him a clearance letter after he told them that he had been accepted into a United States university on a sports scholarship.
But a few days later, when the Dynamos camp were expecting to see him at a Washington DC university, Kadonzvo surfaced at Chicken Inn in Bulawayo, where he penned a three-year contract.
Relations between the two clubs became frosty as a result, with Dynamos, claiming that their league counterpart were part of the scam, that saw the midfielder being released from his remaining one-year contract.
Chicken Inn have denied the accusations and refused to pay the $8 000 transfer fee that Dynamos later demanded.
Dynamos had no firm grounds to stand on since they are the ones who issued the clearance and Chicken Inn went on to register the player with the Premier Soccer League and Kadonzvo has already featured in the team’s opening two matches.
That off-field controversy hasn’t died down, as Dynamos still feel that they were duped and will be looking to get their revenge on Chicken Inn, this time on the field of play.
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Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas refused to comment on the matter, only confirming that Kadonzvo was part of the final squad to face Dynamos.
Two other former Dynamos players Phakamani Dube and Brett Amidu, who moved in the last transfer window, have also been confirmed to be part of the final squad.
“All I can promise is that they will be in the 18-man squad, but as for the final squad, we will see on the day,” Antipas said.
Chicken Inn have dominated Dynamos over the years, beating them at BF last year and since 2015 when the Gamecocks lifted the league title, the Glamour Boys have only beaten them twice, once in 2015 in Bulawayo and in 2017 at Rufaro Stadium.
Chicken Inn have won four times, lost twice and played two draws to Dynamos since 2015.
“We are not reading much into history. We just have to take this as a new game. It’s still early days into the season; we have only played two games so far. We are ready and prepared for the match. It is a big game. What we need to do is go into the match with confidence. They have good individual players, but I think we can gather maximum points,” Antipas said. Chicken Inn will be high in confidence going into the match, having collected maximum points in their opening two matches against ZPC Kariba and Yadah to top the log standings.
Those two results have not come as a surprise to many, including Dynamos coach Lloyd Chigowe, who regards the Antipas-coached team as one of the strong candidates to win the league title this season.
“They are one of the strong contenders for the title. They have collected maximum points (in their first two matches), and that on its own is a statement of intent,” Chigowe said.
Dynamos are making the trip on the back of a demoralising 2-1 defeat to Hwange last week. They travelled without Cameroonian Claude Junior Ngahan who picked an injury at training on Thursday.
The good news is that chief striker Ngandu Mangala, who scored the brace in the 2-0 win over Mushowani Stars a fortnight ago, has fully recovered and is part of the travelling squad.
