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George Chigova

Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
WARRIORS’ goalkeeper George Chigova has been praised by President Emmerson Mnangagwa for his heroics that propelled Zimbabwe to their second consecutive Cosafa Cup final on Wednesday night.

Zimbabwe will face trans-Zambezi rivals Zambia in the final tomorrow in a repeat of the 2017 final.

The giant goalkeeper wrote his own piece of history by completing five successive penalty saves in two shootouts at the new Peter Mokaba Stadium in South Africa and is presently the talk of the tournament.

Chigova made two straight saves in their 3-1 win over Lesotho in Wednesday night’s penalty shootout after the two sides had deadlocked 0-0 in the regulation 90 minutes of the semi-final. This was three days after stopping three straight penalties in the first shootout in Sunday’s quarter-final against Botswana.

Writing on his Twitter timeline, President Mnangagwa said there was no doubt that Chigova is currently “the safest hands” the country has.

“As we currently debate which candidate has the safest hands for Zimbabwe, we can all agree the answer is without a doubt George Chigova, the Warriors’ heroic goalkeeper who has saved five penalties this week to get the Warriors into the Cosafa Cup final,” President Mnangagwa tweeted.

The President also congratulated the Mighty Warriors for beating Zambia 1-0 in the first-leg of the final qualifying round of the Africa Women Cup of Nations played at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka on Wednesday.

Star striker Rutendo Makore’s strike gave the Mighty Warriors the important away goal ahead of the second-leg encounter at Rufaro Stadium tomorrow.

“Congratulations also go to the Zimbabwean women’s team who beat Zambia in the first-leg of the final qualifying round of the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations yesterday (Wednesday). Best of luck to both teams facing our neighbours Zambia this weekend.”