BY FORTUNE MBELE
PORTUGUESE national Nilton Terroso touched down at the Joshua Mqabuko International Airport on October 7 and a few days later he was unveiled as the head coach for ambitious club Bulawayo Chiefs.
The arrival of Terroso, a former assistant coach to ex-Manchester United gaffer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during his tenure at Cardiff City, underlined The Ninjas’ ambition to change the way in which football is run in the country.
And while he misses the beach and the ocean back home four months down the line, the Portuguese national has indeed fallen in love with Bulawayo in particular and Zimbabwe in general.
“Off the pitch like I said it has been very good. Of course there are certain things that I will miss from Portugal. I miss the ocean, I miss the beach but in general in terms of the people (here) I have absolutely nothing negative to say. If anything I would like to thank them,” Terroso said in an interview.
“People around this city when I go out or have an afternoon off or it’s after a game, regardless of the result, regardless of the situation, people have been very polite, they are easy to talk to, approachable. It is a good integration and I am very happy to be here and have no problems at all,” he added.
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Terroso is not new to Southern Africa, having coached in Mozambique for a year
“To be honest, off the pitch, which I have said before, the information that I had when I came here was that Zimbabwe was a very beautiful country with very nice people. I have confirmed that to be true both in the period before Christmas and now.
“Off the pitch, people have been very respectful and very welcoming. They are always with a smile on their faces. They are very nice and very polite, which for me has been part of a massive way of trying to adapt and integrate myself much easier. It is something that I feel is very important.
“It’s something that I acknowledge as being a positive factor in terms of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwean football,” Terroso says.
He says in the last two games where Bulawayo Chiefs beat reigning champions FC Platinum 2-0 and lost 2-1 to Chicken Inn, both matches played at Luveve Stadium, he had the opportunity to speak to coach Norman Mapeza and Joey Antipas and both were hospitable.
“I have felt respect both from opposition and coaches; before FC Platinum I spoke to Norman (Mapeza); it was excellent and after the game same thing. It was victory for us and defeat for them and after the Chicken Inn game I spoke to Joey (Antipas); it was the same, and this time a loss for us but the respect has always been there and I think so far in terms of the games and the people that I have encountered it has always been good,” Terroso said.
Prince Matore was in charge of the Chicken Inn game with Antipas arriving midway through the match coming from his brother’s burial and watched from the terraces.
He cherishes the unity of purpose and the professionalism at Bulawayo Chiefs, paying tribute to the club owner Lovemore Sibanda and the rest of the people involved in the project.
“In terms of the team’s performance it branches to all of us; staff, the players, as well as members of the board. We have got a close knit family. Everyone believes and is supportive of what we are doing, down from the kit man all the way up to the owner. Everyone is important, there is no person who is less or important than the other. If there is anyone who doesn’t push in the same direction, we are all going to suffer the consequences.
“Thankfully nothing like that has happened up until now,” Terroso said.
Heading into this weekend’s matches Chiefs had played four games in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League, won two, drew one and lost one.