COPA Coca-Cola Under-16 coach Never “Mourinho” Mhandu says Zimbabwe has young talent and has predicted a bright future for the country after guiding the team to glory at the 2013 edition of the tournament in South Africa over the weekend.
HENRY MHARA SPORTS REPORTER
Zimbabwe were crowned champions after beating Uganda in the finals and received a trophy in addition to gold medals.
The players were selected by a panel of journalists at the Copa Coca-Cola finals that was held in Mutare and won by Chemhanza High School.
Nine countries including former defending champions Zambia, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Egypt, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe took part at the finals in South Africa.
Chemhanza High School player Tatenda Tumba was voted the player of the tournament and also won the top goalscorer award after bagging six goals including one in the final and the solitary goal that booted defending champions Zambia out at the semi-final stage.
In addition, Zimbabwe provided three players to the All-Stars Copa Africa Team, a squad that will travel to watch a match in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The three are Tumba, goalkeeper Tatenda Munditi and defender Learnmore Muyambo, all from Chemhanza High School.
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Zimbabwe won the title after beating Kenya 6-1, Kazakhstan 3-1, Uganda 1-0, drawing with Algeria 0-0 to top Group B before meeting Zambia in the semis winning 1-0 to proceed to the finals.
Mhandu, the Chemhanza High School coach said on their return yesterday morning: “We didn’t have a camp or train prior to the games given the short time to prepare, but it was very easy to prepare the team because this is a group of immensely talented players.”
The victorious and jubilant squad arrived at the Harare International Airport yesterday morning and were greeted with wild cheers by a sizeable crowd that included the players’ parents, airport staff, Copa Coca-Cola and Delta officials.
Copa Coca-Cola team: T Munditi, E Chiyangwa, M Chodewa, L Muyambo , I Chifamba, B Sibanda, D Chibisa, W Parira, S Tandi, S Ebadi, T Tumba, P Makotore, T Nhundu, A Tshuma
