Zimbabwe (12) v (2) France

By Emily Day

Zimbabwe didn’t give France much of a look-in at the City Cup final today at a packed Federation Square as they ran away with the match 12-2.

Pre-match camaraderie between the two teams was put aside when the whistle blew, the players focusing on the serious business of winning the City Cup trophy.

Zimbabwe took possession early on, Solomon Shandiringa posting the first goal with a perfectly straight ball into the left corner of the net.

Simbarashe Saidi took the next goal for Zimbabwe to ensure a 2-0 lead early on.

Play paused for a minute after the referee blew his whistle and told the French goalkeeper to tie up his shoelaces.

The match continued with Saidi netting Zimbabwe’s third goal with a confident strike.

Zimbabwe’s Farai Murwira brought the ball up the right flank and took a magnificent pop at goals which shot sweetly into the left corner of the net.

France’s Hardy Bangura tried to even up the score with a great shot at goal but it just fell wide.

With a comfortable lead under their belt, the Zimbabwean team began to play a sharing game of soccer.

Murwira brought the ball up to the goal, but instead of taking the shot himself, passed it off to Shandiringa who took the honours.

As the first half wound down, Zimbabwe was almost toying with the hard-working French team, who despite their best efforts in defence were yet to get a look-in in this match.

A Zimbabwean goal on the whistle saw the teams going into the break 8-0.

The second half began with France slowing Zimbabwe’s onslaught with some nifty defence, especially from Bangura.

The good humour of the Zimbabwean team could not be deflated, with Shandiringa turning away with a smile after his penalty hit the post and fell wide.

France bagged their first goal two minutes in after a fumble from the Zimbabwean keeper saw the ball trickle into the net.

Karim Bentaleb put away the second goal for France, slamming it into the net after a deflected ball off the keeper rolled straight to his feet.

The French keeper was putting in a stellar effort in goals but it simply wasn’t enough to beat Murwira and Saidi, who put away some carefully considered shots, pausing until the keeper was off-balance to flip the ball in.

The goal of the match was a spectacular strike from Murwira which flew into the left pocket of the net.

The final whistle had Zimbabwe rushing onto the field to celebrate their 12-2 win by flinging water up into the air and dancing.

The French team were understandably disappointed by their loss, but still came off the pitch smiling.

"It was close - we did all we could but unfortunately we lost," said France's Hamed Mohamed Kenzi with a grin. "But we're happy for them."

Photos: Photoworx