‘Ovidy is simply special’

By Grace Chingoma

In-form Zimbabwe international Ovidy Karuru has been praised as a special talent by the coaches who have worked with him and they are not surprised he is turning on the style in the South African Premiership.

On Wednesday night Karuru scored for AmaZulu in a victory over SuperSport United in Pretoria.

It was his second goal against the same opponents.

“Ovidy is a player with all the attributes of a very top footballer. When he was lost and found after his contract was terminated by Kaizer Chiefs, I managed to get hold of him and he responded well by coming to play for AmaZulu,” said his former coach Joey Antipas.

“I would say he is one of the top midfielders to come out of Zimbabwe.

“He is back to his top form and showing us what he is capable of.

“I used him as a second striker. He is a hard worker, he always wants to get involved in play, very creative and can score goals as well. He is a type of a player who can eliminate opponents, not afraid to take them on.”

According to the Chicken Inn mentor, he had to move mountains to bring Karuru to AmaZulu as the club’s chiefs were reluctant to sign him.

“I battled to sign him at AmaZulu, the bosses weren’t too sure, but I assured them that he was a very good player I had worked with before at the national team.

“I knew him well before he went to Europe and had also worked with him in the Warriors squad.

“So I put my head on the block and said let’s take him on board, and now they (AmaZulu) are smiling all the way.

“I definitely think that his move from France affected him. And like most players, loss of form does happen, but unfortunately his contract was terminated.

“When he started at AmaZulu, I gave him a training programme and he was able to regain everything.”

Another significant actor in Karuru’s revival was former caretaker Warriors coach Norman Mapeza who brought him back into the team last year.

“I spoke to Joey and Prince Matore when they were in Division One and they told me he is doing well. I knew exactly what I was looking for and he gave me that,” said Mapeza.

“I knew him well. I started working with him in 2007 when he was still in Masvingo and I was presiding over a national team game. He is one of the most disciplined players I have worked with, a hard worker.

“In football, players possess different attributes.

“I think for him it’s his technical ability. He is someone who is very good, if we combine this with physical and tactical attributes, it makes him a very good player and coaches we look at these attributes in a player.”

Mapeza says he always believed in the midfielder.

“Sometimes as coaches we differ in what we want in players. So you find a player can excel under a certain coach and others struggle under a certain coach or under a certain environment.

“Clubs like Kaizer Chiefs are too demanding with a lot of pressure, but the same player can do well if he moves to another club or club with less pressure.

“If you look at Henrikh Mkhitaryan, he didn’t perform well at Manchester United, but was performing well at Borussia Dortmund, so it happens in football.

“I could tell he was still a good player and knew what he was going to give us. He was a bit down and the call-up motivated him, pushing him to greater heights.

“He went on to play at COSAFA, did well and from there he has never been the same again. He needed that confidence we gave him and has used it to re-launch his career,” said Mapeza.

Chidzambwa believes he can even score more goals in the Super Diski.

“He is a very good attacking midfielder, especially playing behind one striker, he is very dangerous.

“I picked him for COSAFA considering we had very few foreign-based players and I was not disappointed.

“I have watched some of his games and I feel he misses some chances that he should not miss. He gets into good scoring positions, so he needs to improve on that and he will get a lot of goals,” said Chidzambwa. The Herald