NEWLY-CROWNED champions Simba Bhora FC dominated the Soccer Stars selection after five of their players made it onto the best 11 list for the 2024 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season yesterday.
The five include one of the favourites for Soccer Star of the Year Walter Musona, Taimon Machope, Blessing Moyo, Webster Tafa and Isheanesu Mauchi, who was a surprise inclusion.
Musona captained Simba Bhora to their maiden league title in only their second season in topflight football as he finished the season with 23 goal contributions, that is 10 goals and 13 assists.
It was also Musona’s second league title after he won one with his former side FC Platinum in 2022.
Moyo also had an immense season for the Shamwa-based side, especially in defence, and deservedly won his fifth title in the local league, while Tafa was an ever-present rock at the back for the champions.
Machope managed 11 goals and 12 assists in the team’s charge towards the historic league title, and Mauchi was a revelation in defence for Simba Bhora in the stages of the league race in which they finished with 14 clean sheets.
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Coach Tonderai Ndiraya is on record declaring that Mauchi was a game changer for the champions during the gruelling race.
“We were conceding a lot of goals from crosses and we had to bite the bullet and introduce Isheanesu Mauchi, a young tall defender to deal with the crosses,” Ndiraya said after the team’s last match of the season against ZPC Kariba last week.
“I think Isheanesu brought stability into that defence. Just looking at him, he is not that pleasing, but he did the job that we wanted him to do.
“That is when we started to keep more clean sheets, so he brought a lot of stability in that department.”
But the biggest story of the Soccer Stars selection should be the inclusion of Warriors’ talisman Khama Billiat, who has managed to resuscitate his football career back home this season following his well-documented struggles in South Africa.
Billiat brought a lot of excitement in the local league and managed to prove his mettle as he finished as the second best top scorer in the league with 13 goals, four behind top scorer Lynoth Chikuhwa from Highlanders.
It has been such a brilliant season for Billiat who managed to capture the eye of Warriors coach Michael Nees, after talking him out of retirement.
The pint-sized forward starred for the Warriors as they managed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals scheduled for Morocco at the end of next year and spilling into 2026.
Billiat also managed to score a goal during the Afcon qualifiers.
The 34-year-old football star is also a top contender for Soccer Star of the Year mainly because of his exploits for a lowly side such as Yadah FC while he had such a huge impact on the league as a whole.
Top scorer Chikuhwa was rewarded for his prolific season and is also tipped for the biggest individual accolade in the land.
Chikuhwa managed to equal the 17 goals scored by Caps United’s William Manondo in 2022 when he won the golden boot.
There was also room for Caps United captain Godknows Murwira as well as teammate and rising star Kingsley Mureremba, but shockingly, Manondo, who completed the season with 12 goals, missed out.
Dynamos vice-captain Emmanuel Jalai is also among the season’s best 11 players, with Chicken Inn goalkeeper Donovan Bernard completing the list following his historic 20 clean sheets this season.
One of the biggest talking points was the fact that the Soccer Star of the Year finalists list did not include any player from FC Platinum, who finished second in the league, Ngezi Platinum Stars, who were third and fourth-placed Manica Diamonds.
Notable absentees include Hagiazo Magaya (FC Platinum), Farai Banda (Manica Diamonds), Takunda Benhura (Ngezi Platinum Stars) as well as teammate Nelson Chadya who managed 17 clean sheets and three assists in the just-ended season.
It was also highly expected that Boid Mutukure, who marshalled the defence for the ZPC Kariba, who had the most frugal backline in the league with just 18 goals from 34 matches, would be chosen, but was snubbed by the selectors.
There was also selection for Goalkeeper of the Year, Most Promising Young Player and Coach of the year accolades, but the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony which is set to take place on December 6 at the Golden Conifer in Harare.