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Christian Epoupa

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
WITH a few games left to wrap up the 2017 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season, talk among football fans is now closing in on who will be crowned the club champions as well as the most outstanding player in the domestic league.

The race for the league title is now almost a four team race as only a miracle will see either Dynamos, Ngezi Platinum, FC Platinum or Chicken Inn failing to bag the championship medal and the right to represent the country in the Caf Champions League next season.

For the individual player awards however, the race is still open to a handful of players that have been a cut above the rest and among those players is the Dynamos’ cheeky Cameroonian import Christian Epoupa. On 11 goals, the 24 year old forward’s prowess has shaken the local football landscape and is undoubtedly and perhaps arguably the sole reason why the Glamour Boys are three points clear at the top.

Some might say the three points are as a result of boardroom benevolence after the abandoned league match against arch rivals Highlanders. It can be true yes, but who was behind the goal that brought Bulawayo to a standstill? Epoupa. He is tied on 11 goals with Caps United’s Hwange-born Dominic Chungwa but Epoupa’s plus has been his many decisive goals that might eventually see him become the second ever foreign player to be crowned Zimbabwean Soccer Star when a panel of coaches, club captains and journalists meet in the capital in a month’s time. Only former Caps United’s Malawian import Joseph Kamwendo has won the accolade after his hard work led Makepekepe to the 2005 league title under Charles Mhlauri.

The Cameroonian though faces heavy challenge from his skipper Ocean Mushure, Chungwa as well as Chicken Inn’s unsung hero Moses Jackson. Like Mushure, Jackson has led from the front and it will be a huge miscarriage of justice if he is overlooked for such a prestigious award, a dream for any player worth his salt.

Just like the top four sides are in the race for the league title, the three players, Epoupa, Mushure and Chungwa might find themselves voted the three best players in the land, come the awards night. That they will be part of the 11 finalists is almost as given as the fact that the sun will rise tomorrow.

Besides the trio, other players that truly deserve to be in that calendar include Chicken Inn midfielder, Innocent Mucheneka and his goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze who before the 4-0 annihilation by Highlanders last Sunday had conceded just 12 goals.

Highlanders’ Tendai Ndlovu and the now South Africa based Prince Dube also deserve consideration  as well as Bukhosi Sibanda formerly with Bantu Rovers but now at Ubuntu Cape Town in South Africa.

Other names are Lot Chiwunga, Bruce Homora (Black Rhinos), Terrence Dzukamanja (Ngezi Platinum), Makundika Sakala (How Mine), Gerald Takwara, Kelvin Moyo (FC Platinum) as well as Triangle United skipper Lameck Nhamo.

@skhumoyo2000