WITH Highlanders struggling against Herentals in the second match of the Premier Soccer league season on March 25, Bosso coach Madinda Ndlovu pulled out Newman Sianchali for Ozias Zibande in the 55th minute.
BY FORTUNE MBELE
Within six minutes, Zibande repaid his boss by giving Bosso the lead with a well-executed header.
In the 69th minute Zibande was at it again producing a carbon copy of the first headed goal to ensure a comfortable win for the Bulawayo giants as they continued with their perfect start to the season.
However, it was on Easter Monday that Zibande thrust himself into the hearts of the Highlanders fans when his side-footed strike from close range on the stroke of half-time settled the match against arch-rivals Dynamos.
“I was only waiting for the right time to come and the hard work is paying off. I just go into the field of play hoping to do my best and I find myself at the right place at the right time,” the Highlanders man of the moment told The Sports Hub.
Zibande (25) is not new to Highlanders having graduated to the senior team in 2012 when he was 19 under Zambian gaffer Kelvin Kaindu.
He attracted the attention of Kaindu along with other players such as Lewis Ncube, Status Nsingo and Ryan Howes and burst into the senior team in that year, banging in four goals for the Bulawayo giants in his first year, another four in 2013 and increased his tally to seven in 2014.
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The striker was sidelined in 2015 when he picked up an injury in pre-season and with his contract expiring in mid-season when Bongani Mafu was head coach, he decided to quit the club that he played for from the juniors.
Coach Madinda Ndlovu, assembling a new squad of young players this season, had faith in Zibande after the player went quiet, playing for Gaborone United in Botswana for eight months under coach Rahman Gumbo, who brought him along to join Chicken Inn back home in 2016, where he was up to last year.
He did not feature much for the GameCocks in one and a half years.
Sitting on the bench in pre-season friendly matches, Zibande has become a revelation for Highlanders with three goals early in the season.
But with four games played in the league, Zibande said it’s premature for him to start blowing his own horn as the journey is still long ahead.
“It has been good so far, but I don’t want to say much. It is still early days considering that the league has just started and there are still 30 more games to play. But all I can say is that my wish is to keep scoring and help my club and reap the rewards at the end of the season. The coach (Ndlovu) believed in me because he saw that I can deliver,” Zibande said.
He played only 10 minutes in the first game against Black Rhinos at Barbourfields Stadium replacing midfielder Nigel Makumbe before notching a brace against Herentals at the National Sports Stadium
The striker, with quick runs in the centre, complementing wingers Gabriel Nyoni and Godfrey Makaruse and overlapping right-back MaClive Phiri and with a flair for scoring using his head, was given a full game in the goalless home draw against Triangle.
Credit goes to Ndlovu who saw something special in Zibande and brought him back to Highlanders at the start of the season.
“That Ozias did this and that before, I am not aware because I was not there. We look at these youngsters and try to work on their talent and to try and get the best of what they can give to us. If Ozias did not make it before, it was not under me,” Ndlovu said.
“But the impact that he has made on the team is about giving these youngsters space to express themselves. We want them to show what they have. Sitting some of these youngsters on the bench and giving them an opportunity to come in and play makes them hungrier.”
“Zibande is not that young. He has seen it all. He knows what it means when you are given a chance and you are the top man, you must use it. He was there before we signed Newman Sianchali. So pressure is already on him to score,” he added.
Ndlovu believes he could have scored earlier against Dynamos had he been more clinical.
Zibande played for Highlanders and Ajax Hotspurs juniors opting for the latter from Bosso in 2010 because the club was nearer to his home in Mpopoma suburb as he was writing his Ordinary Levels at Mpopoma High School that year.
