The defending champions, Napoli FC. Photo: Frank Mavhungu.
The second batch of the round-of-32 matches for the Lumveleni Winter Soccer Tournament will be played at the Ngudza Grounds outside Thohoyandou this weekend. The opening matches were played at the same venue over the past weekend. Four matches will take place on Saturday, with the same number scheduled for Sunday.
Duthuni Happy Boys will take on Saudi FC in the opening match on Saturday morning, starting at 09:30. This will be followed by the match between Tshambobvu Junior Aces and Shonisani FC. Makwarani Frelimo Boys and Mukumbani Shooting Stars will lock horns shortly after midday. The match not to be missed will be between Napoli FC and Makhuvha Up the Ants, scheduled to kick off at 15:30.
Whether Makhuvha will have enough strength to beat Napoli and proceed to the next round remains to be seen. Napoli are the defending champions, while Makhuvha will enter the battlefield as the underdogs.
Sunday will see Rockers FC rub shoulders with Maneni Youth Development in the opening match. Rockers will have only themselves to blame if they fail to secure a place in the last 16. Rockers are campaigning in the Safa Vhembe Hollywoodbets League, while Maneni Youth Development are an affiliate of the lower league. They were one of the close contenders for the league championship in the recently concluded soccer season.
The hosts, Ngudza Young Vultures, will have a date with Ngovhela Backside FC starting at 11:30. Duthuni Try Again and Matangari High Aims will test each other’s strength in the next fixture. Manamani Blue Birds and SDA Ya Limpopo FC will wrap up the day’s programme. The champions will take home a whopping R15,000 and a floating trophy.