Chinyengetere charms Baroka

Sport
TWO-TIME Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Soccer Star of the Year Rodwell Chinyengetere might be yet to make his debut with his new South African side Baroka FC, but he has already left his new coach spellbound.

TWO-TIME Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Soccer Star of the Year Rodwell Chinyengetere might be yet to make his debut with his new South African side Baroka FC, but he has already left his new coach spellbound.

BY SPORTS REPORTER

Baroka FC coach Wedson Nyirenda revealed that he had been impressed with what he had seen from the former FC Platinum player in training and tipped him to make an instant impact at the club.

Chinyengetere was signed towards the end of last year, but ca only be registered when the South African transfer window opens early this week.

The former FC Platinum midfielder has been training with Bakgaga for over a month now and could make his debut against Limpopo rivals Black Leopards at Peter Mokaba Stadium today.

“We have Rodwell from Zimbabwe. We signed him some time in November and we were just waiting for this time [to register him],” Nyirenda told the South African football website KickOff.

“I must say he is looking good. He is mature on the ball; he knows what he can do with the ball. This is not the end. We have some young boys on trial with us and I think you’ll be hearing one or two more coming to trials with us.”

The coach’s comments come after the player’s agent Gibson Mahachi revealed that he had been receiving positive feedback about the player from Baroka owner Khurishi Mphahlele.

“I got a call from the Baroka owner telling me that they have been impressed by the player’s maturity, discipline and work ethic. They are really excited about this signing and are expecting a lot from the player,” Mahachi told Standardsport in an interview yesterday.

Mahachi added: “Initially the club had reservations about the player’s age, but they went on to sign him because they know me and we have a good working relationship. But Chinyengetere’s quality was never in question and he did not need to go for trials. We signed everything while the player was in Zimbabwe and he only had to go to South Africa to join his new teammates, which speaks volumes about the player,” he added.

It was a superb year for Chinyengetere, who helped FC Platinum retain the league title and also became a permanent feature in the Warriors Afcon squad.

Chinyengetere joined FC Platinum at the end of 2015 amid doubts as to whether he would be able to rediscover his form after earlier suffering a career-threatening injury which halted his otherwise promising career.

However, the 30-year-old transformed himself to become one of the best players in the Zimbabwean league and went on to win the Castle Lager Soccer Star of the Year award twice on the bounce in 2017 and 2018.

He will be hoping to continue that form at Baroka, who finished 2018 with a crucial victory over Maritzburg United and are determined to keep climbing the South African Premiership standings.