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News

Zimbabwe: Simba Bhora Crumble Under Pressure

todayOctober 23, 2024 3

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Castle Lager Premier Soccer League log leaders Simba Bhora coach Tonderai Ndiraya will be using his senior players as a trump card for their championship quest.

He admits that Simba, who have maintained pole position in the championship race for weeks, are in unfamiliar PSL territory.

As a result, this has exerted them under pressure on and off the pitch.

On Saturday they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat against Herentals, who scored an injury-time winner at Rufaro. With FC Platinum beating Yadah 3-0 at Mandava on the same day, Simba Bhora still need four points from the remaining four matches to land the title.

Their next assignment is at home to CAPS United while they also have a home fixture against FC Platinum before the end of the season.

“This is an unfamiliar territory that we are in as a team, and to finish the race in this position we now need all the psychological strength,” he said.

Making their elite league debut last year, Simba were at this stage of the season fighting for survival.

They went on to finish their 2023 campaign in position 12.

Expressing their championship ambitions, this season they brought in 2022 Soccer Star of the Year Walter Musona, goalkeepers Talbert Shumba and Taimon Mvula, Mthokozisi Msebe, Junior Makunike, Perfect Chikwende, Gift Saunyama, Malvin Mkolo and Billy Veremu.

Undeniably, the team has made a huge impression this year, leading the PSL race for weeks. To withstand the pressure that comes with the championship race, Ndiraya feels that they need to invest in the team’s psychological well-being.

However, with most domestic teams yet to consider investing in team psychologists, Ndiraya has to improvise.

For his team to stay grounded, Ndiraya said senior players should lead the youngsters on and off the pitch in the demanding race.

“We are fairly new in this zone but we have big names who have been here before, they have won the championship in the past and have the experience,” he said.

“We expect them to lead; here I am talking of Walter Musona, Perfect Chikwende, Blessing Moyo and Partson Jaure.

“They understand how it is like to be in this terrain at this stage of the league so they will lead the younger players to recover from this short setback.”

The former Dynamos mentor blamed his side for complacency when they suffered a late 1-0 defeat to Herentals at Rufaro at the weekend.