Zimpapers Logo

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS head coach Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu is happy with his players’ performance during the Independence Cup final which they lost 0-2 to Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.

Mpofu is, however, not happy with the end result that was largely due to two schoolboy blunders by skipper Ariel Sibanda and his vice Peter Muduhwa.

He said he left the dressing room satisfied with the performance.

“At any given time when you play Dynamos it’s never an easy game, but a tough one. We had new faces in the team but I was very happy with ball circulation and ball retention, it was unbelievable. In football there are things that you can’t control such as the two goals that we conceded which were soft goals from my captain and my senior player but anything can happen in football and it’s now water under the bridge,” said Mpofu.

“We are going back to the drawing board. Remember this is pre-season, we are back to training tomorrow where we are going to work on tactics and movements. There is still a long way to go, but what I saw is a team that once fit, will compete. I am very happy with the way we played but I’m not happy with the result,” he said.

Mpofu praised the new players and made special mention of returnee Joel Ngodzo.

“I think they did well and I was impressed by Josta (Ngodzo) when he came in; he gave us a new dimension to the game. I couldn’t play him in the starting line-up because of two days of training. I was very cautious because I didn’t know if he will last the distance, but when he came in, it was a different team altogether,” said Mpofu.

Meanwhile, Highlanders have rallied behind coach Mpofu following calls by some fans that he be relieved of his duties for losing to their arch-rivals.

Social media went into overdrive with some Bosso fans calling for calm since it was the first game in 400 days, while radical ones laid the blame on Mpofu and called on the club to look for a replacement.

However, club chief executive officer Nhlanhla Dube poured cold water on the calls for Mpofu to go, saying there is no thought of re-arranging their coaching department over a loss of a game that came after more than a year of inactivity.

“There is no thought of re-arranging our coaches and particularly because we lost a game which we trained for four days after more than a year of no football activity and or training,” said Dube.

He said the club was fully focused on having an uninterrupted pre-season preparation.

“We are well and truly focused on making sure that the pre-season work ahead of us is executed well so that the first team and all our systems are prepared for competition,” said Dube.