The Sunday Mail
CAPS UNITED man of the moment Gerald “Papa” Phiri (pictured) regrets his over the top goal celebrations during last weekend’s Harare Derby.
The midfielder ran to the bays that housed the DeMbare fans when his sublime free kick restored parity.
The move triggered a barrage of missiles from the Glamour Boys’ faithful.
Now a week after that stunning moment and a few hours before the two teams renew their rivalry in the One Wallet Cup, Phiri says he is sorry.
“Perhaps this is the right platform to issue my public apology to the Dynamos fans and the football fraternity in general for that incident.
“It was not my intention to provoke, it just happened in a flash and I could not control my emotions, especially after scoring such an important goal,” Phiri says.
His stunning free kick, curled with sublime precision that only DeMbare goalie Artwell Mukandi can best give an account of, still echoes on, a week after the first segment of the Harare Derby ended 1-all.
The 20-year-old forward is the main man at the green side of the capital and is the reason why the Caps United supporters are walking with a spring in their step ahead of this afternoon’s clash.
And it has been a hectic week for Phiri who cannot walk through the city without Makepekepe fans mobbing him and offering a “few dollars” as a tokens of appreciation.
“The Caps United fans have been fantastic, that goal really meant more to them than I thought.
“They have been encouraging me, they want to see more of those goals and I want to promise them I will try my best every time.
“Morale is high in our camp, everyone now believes and all we want is a victory against Dynamos again,” he said.
The capital city’s eternal enemies clash for the second time in a fortnight today and Phiri says he now appreciates how big this game is.
“When I was still playing in Malawi I never knew a derby of this nature existed in Zimbabwe.
“I only knew of Caps United through my brother in the game Joseph Kamwendo who once played here.
“But now I have a full understanding of what is at stake when Makepekepe clash with DeMbare and would not want to disappoint our fans,” he said.
Phiri’s blossoming career has already afforded him a trial stint in Poland.
Recently, an untimely injury cost him a chance to land a deal with Super Diski side Supersport United.
Last Sunday he proved why he is most sought after.
When Murape Murape thrust DeMbare into a first half lead with a classy volley, the derby was already assuming “the same old story” tag but super-sub Phiri had something special in his size 9 Nike boot.
“I practised free kicks during the week prior to the game,” he disclosed.
“Sometimes I would hit 10 balls, score two or three and when the moment came in that match I just told myself ‘let me hit it like I am at training.’
“I read the wall and saw where Artwell (Mukandi) was standing. Something told me he would move a little once I hit the ball, so I placed it straight where he was standing.”
Prior to the 73rd edition of the Harare derby, Makepekepe had failed to score against DeMbare since July 2011 and had lost all the six consecutive league matches against their ultimate enemy.
There is no doubt that if Caps United were into serious shirt selling business then Phiri’s jersey number 10 would be the leading seller right now.
Papa is the man at Makepekepe!
However, it remains to be seen how hard he will punch today as DeMbare look set to assign a man to do a job on the Malawian import.
Phiri, who apart from a wide range of set piece skills, is also blessed with close ball control and passing range, will most likely be shadowed all afternoon .
On free-kicks Dynamos have been working on mounting a wall that does not crumble like was the case last Sunday.
