Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Augustine Hwata
5 January 2009
Harare — ZIMBABWE international striker Quincy Antipas has set his sights on moving to the Danish top-flight following a six-month stint of learning the ropes in the European country's third tier league.
Antipas, who had been plying his trade in the Moroccan Premiership, made his breakthrough into European football six months ago when he signed for Blockhus FC, a Division Two West club in Denmark.
The former CAPS United and Motor Action striker, who is in the country on a winter break, is expected to leave for Denmark tomorrow to resume preparations for the second half of their season.
Although he is going to rejoin his team-mates at Blockhus, the Warriors forward revealed yesterday that he had set himself the target of joining a bigger club in the Danish Supaliga.
"I have been playing in Denmark for six months now and so far everything is okay for me.
"I am playing in the Second Division and have settled well at the team.
"We have just played the first half of the season and are on a winter break for now," said Antipas.
The 25-year-old striker says he has learnt a lot during the six-month spell he has had at Blockhus and is convinced that he can hold his own in the Supaliga.
The Danish top-flight, which is officially called the SAS Ligaen, is dominated by the likes of FC Copenhagen, Randers FC and Brondby, who have constantly featured in the European Champions League and the Uefa Cup.
In the six months that he has been at Blockhus, Antipas has struck seven goals, including a brace he sank on November 22 in the 4-2 win over Svendborg.
Antipas put his side in ahead in the first minute and increased the lead 12 minutes later while Thomas Buus Nielsen added another double in the second half.
Going into the second round of the fixtures, Blockhus are lying seventh on the Division Two West League log with 25 points from 15 games.
Antipas's side, founded in 1973, has managed eight wins and one draw as they bid for promotion into Division One.
The Division Two in Denmark is split into two leagues - the East and the West - with the winners securing promotion into Division One.
Top-ranked teams in Division One win promotion to the Supaliga, which is viewed as having the best league action among the Scandinavians.
Although he is playing in the third tier league, Antipas said he had been impressed by the levels of professionalism in the Danish game.
"There is a very huge difference in the way the game of football is run here in Zimbabwe to the way it is done in Morocco and in Denmark.
"I think the football is better in Denmark even in the lower league where I play.
"There is a very big difference in the way the game is run.
"It's more professional in Denmark.
"I am now hoping to find a team in the Premier League in Denmark.
"Their top league is good and it is my ambition to play for a team in the top league," he said.
Antipas also revealed his wish to be a regular in the senior national team.
Under the tutelage of Brazilian coach Valinhos, Antipas had a cameo role in the Warriors' disastrous 2010 World Cup and African Cup of Nations campaign.
Despite being a regular at the Warriors' training camp, Antipas was only given a run Zimbabwe's last game against Namibia in Windhoek.
At Blokhus, under the guidance of former Denmark international Henning Pedersen, Antipas said he is being used as a central striker.
Blockhus play home matches at the 6 000-capacity Jetsmark Stadium, which is based in Pandrup in North Jutland.
The club also has an amateur side playing as Jetsmark IF.
The professional club was founded on August 27, 1973 as a fusion between two neighbouring clubs Kaas Idr æ tsforening and Pandrup Boldklub.
But the greatest highlight in the club's history so far is considered their promotion to the Second Division (the third best of Danish divisions) in 2002.
Jetsmark IF did also did well to reach the round of 16 in the 2003 edition of the Danish Cup.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
