HERENTALS Under-20 Head Coach Paul Benza is open to moving away from Herentals, starting a new challenge somewhere and proving to himself that he has come of age as a coach.
Speaking to EnterSportNews after his side’s 3-0 win over Bank United at Motor Action Sports Club on Friday, Benza believes he is ready for a new challenge outside his current comfort zone.
“There is this mentality amongst the clubs that I am Benza, and I am coaching a Benza team; therefore, I am not able to move to other clubs,” he said.
“I am a CAF A license holder like any other coach, and I am winning matches like all the other coaches.”
Paul, young brother to Innocent Benza, the owner of Herentals College and Premier Soccer League team by the same name, is a dreamer who loves challenges and has not ruled out one day coaching the national team.
“Maybe it’s about time I move away from Herentals and have new blood come to Herentals whilst I move away to showcase my talent elsewhere, be it locally or bigger teams, even the national team,” Benza added.
Goals from Lieto Dreamer, Fungayi Muramba and Troy Jumeya ensured that Herentals Under-20 kept within touching distance of log leaders Black Mambas and Harare City Football Club.
Benza was happy with how his team responded after they failed to score in their previous match.
“We really needed the goals considering that the last match, we didn’t score any goals when we played Ngezi,” he said.
“It was also important to score goals and get the three points since we played at home today.”
Benza, whose team finished second last season to eventual winners Simba Bhora, has been losing players every season, with some graduating to their sister team in the Premier League and others being taken by other teams.
That does not faze him, as he has proven over the last couple of seasons that he can build championship-winning sides.
However, according to the rules, even if Herentals Under-20 win the Northern Region Division 1 Championship, they do not get promoted as long as Herentals senior side is still in the PSL.
“The advantage is that we trust all our players. We always rotate all our players because we play week in and week out, so we can match any team in the division,” he said.
“Winning the championship is always the best thing for any team, and we want to take the championship down to the wire like we did last season against Simba Bhora.
“Unfortunately, we lost in the last minute of our game against them. Every team must know that we are in the championship to win it, although we won’t be promoted if we win it.”
“Teams can come and scout for players from our team because people want to scout players from teams that are winning than from teams that are not winning. Some will either decide to go to our Premier League or other Premier League sides or even go abroad. They have to win games. They have to win championships to get picked by other clubs.”
