Fungai Muderere
FONDLY known as Campos among hordes of Highlanders supporters, Tapuwa Kapini dribbled into the hearts of Bosso followers with his theatrics after joining the black and white army from the now defunct Black Aces.
He was to lead the Bosso juggernaut to successive league and cup triumphs in the process keeping goals for the Warriors before capping it off with an appearance at the 2004 Afcon showcase.
He then moved to lucrative South Africa’s Absa Premiership where he played and captained clubs such as AmaZulu with the eccentric goalkeeper now in the books of Highlands Park, a club that recently parted ways with ex-Warriors and Chicken Inn forward Tendai “Fire” Ndoro.
Now in the twilight of his career Kapini (36), who recently returned from a long injury layoff, has revealed that he is itching for another Barbourfields Stadium dance in Highlanders colours before hanging his boots and gloves.
“I don’t think it will be fair for me to retire without even playing two, three games for Highlanders,” said Kapini in a recent interview with ZBC.
He added: “I hope my directors at Highlands Park will understand it because I think in the coming season, I’m going to hang my boots. I guess they will let me go and play for Highlanders just to show the Bosso fans that it was all because of them to be where I am today. Without Bosso I wouldn’t be here in South Africa, I owe Highlanders supporters a lot. I got love at Highlanders.”
Reached for a comment, Bosso’s media relations officer Ronald Moyo said while they appreciated that the veteran goalie still had a soft spot for the Bulawayo giants, it would be up to the club’s technical team to grant him another chance.
“We really appreciate that a player of Kapini’s quality still thinks about this great institution. We respect him as he is one of our greatest former players. While he still has the love and commitment to the club, it will be up to our coaches to decide on granting him a chance to come back as a player. We will also always wish to see him bounce back in the future as a coach,” said Moyo.
Campos’ “Bosso want back” remarks came at a time when Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon, a goalkeeper par excellence, has had a lengthy career that saw him triumph with Italy and Juventus.
He finally called it quits at the age of 41 ahead of the 2019/ 20 season and he holds many records including most Italy appearances (176) and the longest streak without conceding in Serie A history (974 minutes).
Kapini, a penalty specialist who runs a vehicle repair company across the Limpopo River, also indicated that to continue his romance with the world’s most beautiful game after calling it a day, he was contemplating conducting coaching courses.
Early this year, Kapini and his wife Sandra Chawanda had a white wedding in Johannesburg where they are based with the ceremony attended by just over 60 people.
His wife is the younger sister of former Warriors defensive stalwart Ephraim Chawanda. Before that, Kapini had just paid lobola for his wife with no wedding having taken place. The couple is blessed with three children, two girls and one boy.
