Easycall Explosion… Bosso vs Chicken Inn

By Langton Nyakwenda

Amini Soma-Phiri knew he had made a bold statement by conjuring up Highlanders’ first victory over Dynamos at Barbourfields since 2006. He walked with a spring in his step soon after last Sunday’s 2-1 Easycall Cup semi final victory.

The journalists swarmed around him for the post match interview and the temperamental gaffer chose his finest moment to hit back at his critics.

“They were saying I wear an oversized suit but now they want to talk to me because I have won, but I am shunning them. I knew this was coming, we have been working hard for this. Now we are in the final,” said Amini.

The Dynamos conquest warmed Soma-Phiri into thousands of Bosso hearts and cemented his case for the top job on a permanent basis.

The Highlanders executive has already started conducting interviews as they search for a new coach but vice chairman Mqcini Mpofu admits Soma-Phiri’s remarkable run has put them in a catch-22 situation.

“If you have a temporary teacher who is producing results you are bound to consider him.“But that doesn’t mean we stop the ongoing interviews,” said Mpofu.

Soma Phiri could further strengthen his chances of landing the pressure cooker job by leading Highlanders to the Easycall Cup at the expense of city rivals Chicken Inn at Barbourfields this afternoon.

Joey Antipas and his Gamecocks, who are chasing a memorable league and cup double, stand in his way.

Soma-Phiri – one of Bosso’s longest serving players having donned the famous black white strip between 1985 and 1997 – had no Premiership coaching experience before his appointment. He was coming from a Division Three side Luveve Big Eleven.

However, he now stands on the verge of leading Bosso to cup glory.

Highlanders technical advisor Cosmos “Tsano” Zulu thinks his technical team is not getting the recognition it deserves.

“People should learn to appreciate. If you look at where Bosso is right now and where we found the team, there is a huge difference.

“People should give credit where it is due. It is only fair for people to say Soma-Phiri and Zulu have done a good job,” Zulu told this publication last week.

PSL Golden Boot winner Knox Mutizwa – who is fresh from a second trial stint at Bidvest Wits – is once again expected to spearhead the Bosso attack.

He has two goals in the tournament.

As Soma Phiri seeks to land the Bosso job his opposite number is relishing the prospect of a rare league and cup double. But Antipas is keeping it cool highlighting that Bosso, who dismissed FC Platinum and Dynamos on their way to the final, will make life difficult for his newly crowned league champions.

“They are fired up, they are buoyant you can say and this being a derby, it is always difficult to predict. But we are ready for them. We need to do the double,” said Antipas.

The former Motor Action gaffer, regarded by many as one of the best football brains in the country, said there will be no grand plan to neutralize Bosso’s dangerous duo of top scorer Mutizwa and midfield ace Valentine Ndaba.

“At Chicken Inn we always play our normal game, collectively. We will just close them down systematically. There is no room for complacency, my boys are still celebrating the league title but I am saying we have to forget about that achievement and concentrate on the job at hand.

“I watched Bosso play last Sunday and I have studied their way of play, my boys will just have to be prepared both physically and mentally,” he said.

In Soccer Star of the Year Danny “Deco” Phiri, Antipas not only has a natural leader but a grafter capable of stifling the marauding Ndaba.

“I do not think about an individual when I get onto the football pitch. I just play for my teammates. This game will be tight because it is a derby, the players live in the same neighbourhood and this is a chance to prove a point.

“Yes, Highlanders will have massive support but my friend we are used to that, we are used to winning against odds,” declared Phiri. The Gamecocks possess a dangerous attack line fronted by Edmore Chirambadare and the speedy Michelle Katsvairo. The Sunday Mail