Berea FC were crowned the champions of the Nwali Soccer Challenge Tournament at the Khubvi Benjie's Grounds last Saturday. They beat Matangari High Aims 1-0 in the final to lift the trophy.
Berea were presented with R10 000, gold medals and a floating trophy during a ceremony that was held at the Benjie's Entertainment Centre shortly after the final game. Matangari High Aims received R7 000, silver medals and a small trophy during the ceremony.
Muodi Freedom Birds were supposed to have played against Madridtas FC in their losers' final match to determine the team that would finish in the third position. The match was declared a walk-over for Freedom Birds after Madridtas failed to arrive. Freedom Birds took home R3 900.
According to one of the organisers of the tournament, Mr Norman Ramahada, Madridtas had been banned to take part in the same tournament for life, following their unbecoming conduct. Teams that were booted out of the tournament in the quarter-final round, Anel Real Vikings, Zwaloni FC, Khubvi Dangerous Darkies and Tshimuthe FC, were each given a consolation prize of R1 000.
The captain of High Aims, Rendani "Mkhize" Ntsieni, was nominated the best player of the tournament. He was presented with a trophy. The youngest player award was presented to the keeper of Berea FC, Honest Munzhelele.
Berea's victory against High Aims was not an easy one. Berea took 86 minutes to score the winning goal. They were awarded a corner kick that was taken by Prince Tshisikhawe. The corner kick gave rise to a scramble within the box and Mulanga Tshilukwa gave the ball the final touch.