Story by Raynald Ngwarati, Sports Reporter
England-based Warriors prospects, Tawanda Chirewa and Tawanda Maswanhise had a fantastic start to the new year this weekend after both players made their senior team debuts for their respective English clubs this weekend.
The two youngsters who were drafted to train with the Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City senior teams respectively after an impressive showing with the juniors were finally given a nod by their managers this weekend.
Coincidentally, the pair who share the same name (Tawanda) had the weekend of their lifetime as their talent and efforts finally reaped results on Friday and Saturday.
The new year probably brought with it a set of fortunes for the duo as Chirewa was handed his first senior cap in Wolves 1-1 draw with Brentford on Friday in the FA Cup 3rd round.
The 20-year-old was brought on by Wolves in the 91st minute replacing Jean-Ricner Bellegarde with the two teams tied at one-all.
Having been introduced late on, the winger had little time to make an impact on the game, but gladly received his appearance for English Premier League club.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old Maswanhise followed suit for Leicester City the following day in the Foxes’ 3-2 win over Millwall in the same competition.
Just like his namesake, Maswanhise was also a second half substitute but had more game time than the former after being introduced in the 77th minute.
The youngster put on a decent performance after his introduction and had a 6 out of 10 rating despite featuring for just 13 minutes of regulation time.
Arguably a golden generation of Zimbabwean football is surfacing in England at least ten known players with Zimbabwean descent being registered for 2023/24 English Premier League season.
16-year-old Trey Nyoni has been training with the Liverpool first team and will be eyeing his senior team debut this year, while 19-year-old Michael Ndiweni already made his debut for Newcastle United late last year.
Wolves duo of Leon Chiwome and Joshua Nyakudya who both play for the junior ranks, West Ham’s Sean Tarima, Aston Villa’s Farai Katsukunya and Burnley’s Vernon Masara are some of the Warriors prospects attached at England’s top tier clubs.
Moreover, Luton Town’s Matthew Kudakwashe Takawira along with Brentford goalkeeper Marley Tavaziva who has also trained with the senior team before and Isaac Mabaya who plays for Liverpool juniors add to the list.
The talented youngsters are all eligible to play for Zimbabwe with Maswanhise having already expressed his desire to play for the Warriors should he receive a call-up.
