Hadebe stays active during lockdown Teenage Hadebe

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE football international Teenage Hadebe has been putting extra workouts at his Turkish Super Lig side Yeni Malatyaspor, hoping to make a comeback to first team when action resumes after the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

The towering left footed former Kaizer Chiefs, Highlanders, Chicken Inn and Bantu Rovers defender missed his team’s last three matches that were played before the global suspension of sporting activities because of coronavirus.

Hadebe was red carded on March 1 when Yeni Malatyaspor lost 0-2 to Denizlispor. He missed his team’s 1-1 draw against Konyaspor, 1-3 defeat to Trabzonspor and their last game which they lost 1-2 to Kayserispor on March 15.

Since then, Hadebe has been training at home and putting in extra shifts at the clubs’ training grounds which he says are closer to his rented Malatya apartment.

The Makokoba-bred footie star said his club, keen to make sure that all the players are fit when games resume, has delivered training equipment to their homes to use during the lockdown.

When matches resume, Yeni Malatyaspor, who are on position 15 in an 18-team league with 25 points from 26 games, will face giants Fenerbache.

“I’m lucky in the sense that my city (Malatya) hasn’t been hit by the coronavirus. I’m safe and staying indoors.

“Being indoors hasn’t been difficult for me because this is not my home and I’ve been spending lots of my time in the apartment even before the lockdown.

“The only different thing that I’m doing now is to train alone at home and at the club complex which is nearby. The club gave all of us gym equipment to use at home and programmes to follow.

“There’s a timetable at the clubhouse where we go train under the supervision of our fitness trainer and once I’m done with those activities, I stay longer to do individual workouts because I’ve been out for a while because of that red card,” said Hadebe.

The Warriors defender stays about 470km away from Turkey’s coronavirus epicentre Istanbul.

Over 500 Covid-19 deaths have been recorded in a country with 20 000 cases.

Hadebe, yet to visit his family following the birth of his twins last month, says it’s a blessing that his wife and children are in Zimbabwe as they would have been “bored” by being locked down in Turkey.

“My wish is that normalcy returns soon so that we get on with our lives, play football and have the league ending so that I can have time off to visit my family. I’m communicating with them on daily basis, checking how they’re doing and encouraging them to follow the guidelines so that they are not exposed to coronavirus,” Hadebe said.

Like most footballers, Hadebe is “addicted” to television games and also spends time video calling his friends who include Marvelous Nakamba who plies his trade in the English Premiership and SuperSport winger Kudakwashe Mahachi, who he played junior football with. — @ZililoR

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