By Obert Sithole
The newly promoted Central Region Soccer League winners, Hardrock FC, have a daunting opening fixture against the 2025 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions, Scotland FC, on Sunday afternoon. Hardrock’s recently appointed coach, Kelvin Kaindu, an astute Zambian, is aware of the huge challenge ahead. However, he hopes they will be able to stand their ground, considering they will be playing at home.
Scotland FC is a well-oiled machine and is coached by arguably one of Zimbabwe’s best coaches, Norman Mapeza. Mapeza boasts four league trophies, two Chibuku Super Cup accolades, and several Castle Challenge Cups. Last weekend, in the Castle Challenge Cup tie against Dynamos FC, “mabviravira” (as Scotland are popularly known by their multitude of fans) humiliated DeMbare 5-0.
“It is a very important game, as it is our debut game, our first game in the Premier League,” said the Zambian gaffer, Kaindu. “We will start against Scotland, a team that just had a big victory over the weekend against Dynamos. That shows how much pedigree they have, and it’s a formidable side. I think on that day, they showed what they are capable of doing.
But we just hope that we come to the party, since we will be playing at home. I think we are playing against the defending champions in our country, as they did very well in their first game, and this shows their intentions for the beginning of the season. We just hope that the fans are going to come, and I think it will be worth watching this game. We have got respect for them, but we just hope that we’ll be able to match them since we’ll be playing at home.”
