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Fungai Muderere, [email protected]

THE Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) will on Friday night crown the 2024 Soccer Star of the Year, with Simba Bhora’s Walter Musona and Highlanders’ Lynoth Chikuhwa favourites for the top accolade.

The 11 players who illuminated the scene for the recently ended season were selected by a panel of journalists, coaches and club captains last Wednesday.

The panellists also voted for the Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year who will all be announced at the banquet to be held in Harare.

The Referee of the Year and his runners-up will also be crowned in what promises to be a colourful ceremony.

Simba Bhora, in their second dance in the country’s elite football league, won the championship and have the highest number on the calendar with five players.

Chikuhwa is happy about his achievement.

Lynoth Chikuhwa

He already has the Golden Boot award.

“It was all through hard work and commitment. I am very much grateful to my teammates and our coaches Kelvin Kaindu, Agent Sawu and Try Ncube. They all gave me a reason to believe in myself after an indifferent 2023 season,” said an ecstatic Chikuhwa yesterday. 

Kaindu is optimistic that Chikuhwa can grace the Soccer Stars podium with pride. 

“He did well for us this season as we had encouraged him before the start. He scored very crucial goals for us and we are happy for him. It has been his season and we are grateful to his teammates who supported him,” said Kaindu. 

Chikuhwa finished the 2024 season with 17 goals under his belt. 

With a technical team that includes ex-Warriors gunslinger Sawu and Ncube, Bosso also managed to transform striker Brighton “MaNinja” Ncube to a formidable forward after spending seasons at Chicken Inn as a fringe player. 

In a poll conducted on Chronicle WhatsApp Channel when the list of the 11 best players of the 2024 season was released, Chikuhwa received 88 percent of the votes.

Coming in second was Yadah FC forward Khama Billiat, who polled five percent of the vote and ended the season with 13 goals.

The virtual voting saw champions Simba Bhora dominating the list, with five players making the cut. These players are: Musona, Blessing Moyo, Webster Tafa, Tymon Machope, and Isheanesu Mauchi.

Ngezi Platinum Stars coach Takesure Chiragwi, who won the league title in his first full season in charge of the platinum miners, could surrender the title to Simba Bhora gaffer Tonderai Ndiraya after winning the league looks a safe bet. 

Donovan Bernard could land the Goalkeeper of the Year accolade to add to his appearance among the 11 Soccer Stars of the Year. 

Bernard had 20 clean sheets this season for a Chicken Inn side that looked so promising at the beginning of the season because of the array of talent in their ranks.

Bernard, with his imposing stature, communication skills and a sense of great positioning, brilliance on crosses and ball distribution was an “A” factor throughout the season for Chicken Inn who yet again underachieved despite having one of the best squads in terms of quality in the Castle Lager Premiership.

Billiat arrived from South Africa down on morale after a disappointing stint at Kaizer Chiefs and set the stage alight for Yadah where he was the stand-out player all season. He showed that class is permanent with brilliant touches, runs and immaculate goals that separated him from the average players around him.

Below is the list of the 2024 Soccer Stars of the Year:

Blessing Sasha Moyo (Simbas Bhora), Donovan Bernard (Chicken Inn), Emmanuel Jalai (Dynamos), Godknows Murwira (CAPS United), Isheanesu Mauchi (Simba Bhora), Khama Billiat (Yadah Stars), Kingsley Mureremba (CAPs United), Lynoth Chisepe Chikuhwa (Highlanders), Tymon Machope (Simba Bhora), Walter Musona (Simba Bhora), Webster Tanaka Tafa (Simba Bhora)

—@FungaiMuderere