By Robson Sharuko of The Herald (www.herald.co.zw)
TIMES have certainly been hard in Zimbabwean football -- the gloom brought by Asiagate, the chaos triggered by the abortive recruitment of Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet and a 2012 Nations Cup campaign that remains on the edge after four dropped points in two matches that ended in draws.
We still wait for the BancABC Sup8r Cup final to be played, almost a month behind schedule, the Premiership remains unbranded, its best players like Ashley Rambanapasi now play with a passport in their socks just in case a move appears on the horizon and the Division One leagues have turned into a big joke that teams can get as many as six walkovers in a season.
Ninety percent of the Premiership clubs are on the verge of bankruptcy, the smaller boys are unlikely to survive another season without a major sponsor coming on board, the bigger clubs have been feeling the heat for some time and their coffers are empty and fears that the top-flight league could collapse, if it doesn't get a massive financial injection, are real.
Amid the gloom all that we can do is just to wait.
Waiting for Supersport Africa to finally see the light that the breeding grounds that gave the world Peter Ndlovu are still fertile and crying out loudly for the changes that follow when the pay-per-view television giant brands a domestic league the way they have done in Zambia, Kenya, Angola and South Africa.
Waiting for the domestic sponsors to see that, despite our Achilles Heel as a community blighted by a cancer that makes it virtually impossible for us to manage our affairs without a touch of controversy, we still have a massive market that is worth the risk of engagement and the big crowd at the Harare Derby last Sunday was a public show of our strength.
Waiting for someone to see that for all our shortcomings as a football community, and the destabilising impact that the lack of funding has on our growth into a powerful force, we still can produce a team that is good enough to be ranked among the six best clubs on the continent and force the continental leaders to reward us with four slots in the Champions League and the Confederations Cup.
Waiting for someone to heal the wounds inflicted over the past few months on a polarised domestic football leadership that was split along regional lines and building the bridges that will enable us to see that there is value in working as a united front, the way our brothers in Botswana are doing, rather than working as wayward platoons of rebellious militia.
But amid all the gloom, it's difficult to ignore the rainbow of hope that has filtered through the dark clouds hanging over Zimbabwean football and the sensational performance of Knowledge Musona, in powering Kaizer Chiefs to a comprehensive victory in the Soweto Derby before 75 000 fans at Soccer City on Saturday, was a breath of fresh air to a community desperate for a feel-good story.Never in the history of the Soweto Derby which officially started in 1985 when the South African league was finally turned, from a haven of rebellious fiefdoms divided by the ghost of the race relations that blighted their society, into an orderly national league, had this flagship fixture been so dominated by a 20-year-old, with such boyish looks of innocence, he would find it difficult to frighten a church mouse.
Never in the history of the Soweto Derby had one man, just out of his age of innocence having recently waved goodbye to his sweet teenage years, been so dominant that he shaped the game in his own image, giving it the goals that made the difference, terrorising the opponents as if they were second-grade foes and not the Mighty Bucs and when he wasn't scoring goals, he was forcing them into errors to score own goals.
Never in the history of the Soweto Derby had a player, who had just played two Nations Cup qualifiers for his country and scored just one goal in those matches, turned on such an outstanding show that even the biggest selling South African football magazine, Kick-Off, were left with no option but to give him a perfect 10 out of 10 mark in their player ratings.
Never in the history of the Soweto Derby had a young assassin played with such a smile, but still with such devastating effect, it was simply difficult to hate him, even if you were in the opposition and bearing the brunt of his destructive force, and Musona's performance last Saturday will remain embedded in the hearts and minds of all who were privileged witnesses to this beautiful story.
For the record it was the biggest winning margin, by either side, in the Soweto Derby in the last 15 meetings, going back almost eight years, between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates -- the two giants who dominate the South African football landscape.
The first goal was made in Norton, Musona's hometown, and delivered in the majestic surroundings of Soccer City, via a helping hand from a deflection from a winger from Cape Town called Diane Klate, after the Smiling Assassin had carved some space in the box, jinxed his way down the byline and then rolled a dangerous ball that was turned home by Klate for an own goal.
The second one was a penalty, after he was brought down by Lucky Lekgwathi who must still be having nightmares about that derby, in general, and Musona in particular, and it was hard to believe the composure of this 20-year-old as he took responsibility, in a team featuring World Cup stars like Siphiwe Tshabalala, and sending the goalkeeper the wrong way with a cool conversion.
The third was the best of the lot, a sudden burst of speed clearing him away from the defender and his searing pace giving him a slight advantage of the advancing goalkeeper but it was the touch, of class, that lifted the ball over the 'keeper and the finish, with a diving header to beat the challenge of the rapidly advancing defender, was crisp and ended the game as a contest.
View From South Africa
Melissa Reddy writes for the South African website, Football365.co.za, and recently blogged on the impact that Musona and his fellow Zimbabwean forward, Nyasha Mushekwi, have made in football in that country. "When Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns began annexing Zimbabwe's talent, the South African media was awash with headlines screaming 'Buy one, get two free', while fans coined the terms Zimba Chips and BraZIMilians to describe the purchasing trend of the glamour clubs," wrote Reddy."The country's award-winning writers, meanwhile, were furious that Amakhosi and Downs were paying for 'cheap labour' rather than investing in young South Africans or splashing the cash on one of the nation's exports who were feeling a little homesick or grew tired of counting the scratches on the benches in Europe.
"Knowledge Musona arrived at Naturena after being scouted by a Chiefs party who were privy to a Division One game featuring Aces Youth Academy in Zimbabwe."Together with Thomas Sweswe and Zhaimu Jambo, the Smiling Assassin joined the Soweto giants at the beginning of the 2009/2010 season amidst disdain from the club's legends and supporters.
"After the signing of the trio, former Amakhosi star Malombo Lechaba told the Daily Dispatch: 'It is a major concern that a club with so many sponsors can fail to dig deep into its pockets and get quality players.'
"The criticism was no different in the case of Nyasha Mushekwi, who was tracked by Chiefs, but ended up at Chloorkop.
"When Amakhosi missed out on their target, Mushekwi was derided as a basketball player, something Sundowns goalkeeper Brian Baloyi warned the opposition's defenders not to read into: 'After Kaizer Chiefs lost him there were some negative reports that came out saying he is a basketball player, but you will see a different player,' said the veteran stopper. 'With what he's got now he is going to be one of the best strikers in the league.'
"There may not have been a massive welcoming party to greet the players when they arrived at their respective clubs, but at the moment, the Premier Soccer League, the supporters and those hacks who suffer from short-term memory syndrome can't get enough of the Zim duo.
"Why this story is important?
"The two young strikers serve as a reminder for the South African Football Association to heavily invest in development. If a country that has only just seen an upturn in its disastrous economic situation can produce such promising youngsters without any form of nurturing, imagine the pool of talent Bafana Bafana would be afforded if some emphasis was placed on harnessing our gifted youth?
"Vladimir Vermezovic has admitted that Musona is the best striker Chiefs have in their ranks, while Antonio Lopez Habas paid special tribute to the influential cameo role Mushekwi played on Saturday night. At the start of the season, Katlego Mphela was the favourite to land the Golden Boot, with Knowledge getting a punt or two, but his countryman wasn't even given a mention.
"But we believe the duo will be more than just giving 'Killer' sleepless nights. Habas cannot afford to overlook Mushekwi in his starting XI much longer, while Vlad V has admitted he needs to build the team around his young gem. With both sides' pushing for the title, the Zimbabweans have emerged as their trump cards.
"They don't look so cheap now, do they?"
Goals, Goals And More Goals
Musona and Mushekwi, now known as the Double M striking force, were on target on Wednesday as Zimbabwe's Warriors beat Mozambique 3-1 in their backyard in Maputo in an international friendly played under blustery conditions at the Maxaquene Stadium.
Mushekwi's goal-scoring instincts are beyond question and the good thing about this partnership is that it offers contrast, which is important, with two vastly different players -- one who is lightweight and relies on his brain, skill and pace and the other who is heavyweight and relies on his power, an eye for goal and lightning pace.
Both are strong in the air, which is another advantage, and with Mushekwi (23) and Musona (20), they are both young enough to keep learning and, crucially, to keep improving and turn into a fierce striking force that could destroy opponents and take the Warriors to the Promised Land.
The Warriors can rise again, no doubt about that, and the performance of the emerging crop of players, who are ready to fill in the void that is being left by the old guard, and long after the shadow cast by Asiagate has disappeared, we will rise as a strong and powerful football nation if we just get our cards right.
Of course, beating a weakened Mozambique can't complete our fairytale in terms of our bid to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup finals and it is very clear that the Eagles of Mali will provide stiffer opposition, both in their backyard and here in Harare, and we will have to survive a storm on an Atlantic Ocean island when we go to Cape Verde.
But little Botswana have been showing us, day-in-and-day-out, week-in-and-week-out and month-in-and-month-out, that there is nothing to fear about the West or North African dinosaurs that used to control of our football, either by hook or crook, and the Zebras' performance in their quest to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup finals has simply been brilliant.
On Wednesday little Botswana beat Tunisia 1-0 in Gaborone, the second time they have beaten them in these qualifiers after winning in Tunis, to virtually guarantee themselves a place at the 2012 Nations Cup finals -- the first time the Zebras will be playing at the tournament.
Midfielder Jerome Ramatlhakwane scored the priceless goal in Gaborone, which moved the Zebras six points clear in the group, after a goalkeeping blunder by the Tunisian goalkeeper to heap further misery on the North Africans who were still reeling from Esperance's 1-6 humiliation by TP Mazembe in the Champions League final.
But how the Zebras have rebounded from a team whose soul was torn apart by a crisis, torched by their 1-4 defeat at the hands of China in an international friendly on September 30 last year that sparked allegations of match-fixing, into a competitive team about to qualify for the Nations Cup finals in exactly one year, is what should act as a template as we try to rebuild the Warriors.
The Zebras have shown that, if you handle your crisis well, you can find the strength to rise from adversity and while the Botswana Football Association's disciplinary committee ruled that the match in China was fixed, the BFA did not suspend the players who featured in that controversial game.
Instead the BFA board felt that their chief executive Mooketshi "Tosh" Kgotlele, who didn't travel on that trip to China, was guilty of failing to adhere to procedure, concealing vital information and was generally dishonest in his dealings and was the fall guy in the challenges that faced the Zebras on that tour.
Kgotlele, who denies the match-fixing charges, was dismissed from his job in April this year and has since filed a lawsuit against the Botswana Football Association against unlawful dismissal.
We certainly don't know what might have happened on other tours by Botswana to Asia or elsewhere in the world because the BFA's investigations centred on that trip to China last September where the players ended up being stranded, needing money for an unbudgeted extra night's accommodation.
The key point here is that for all the drama that has been happening in the corridors of the BFA, what the Botswana football authorities have done well is to make sure that the shape of their national team remains intact and they have been rewarded, of course, by the Zebras' sensational campaign which has taken them within touching distance of a place at the 2012 Nations Cup finals.
The BFA leadership did not bring down their entire house, because they believed it had been invaded by a cockroach, but they searched for the insect, while keeping their structure intact, because they knew that they would soon need the cover of the roof when the rains start falling.
Parties exploded in Botswana on Wednesday following the Zebras' 1-0 win over Tunisia and what mattered, in those celebrations, was the fact that the country was within touching distance of a place at the Nations Cup finals and certainly not the controversy that had plagued some of the players, who were now the heroes on Wednesday, during a trip to China last year.
So much has been written about Mushekwi and company because they happened to have been part of an unauthorised trip to Asia last year that turned out to be controversial and a number of experts have given their views with others even claiming that Zifa have been ordered by Fifa to suspend the players who would be found guilty of having featured in a fixed game.
Match-fixing has no role in any society and it has to be crushed, by all means possible, but the same Fifa rules that apply for Botswana, with all the problems they faced since last September, should also apply to Zimbabwe and if the players in that Zebras team were not suspended, why then are we seemingly so desperate to ensure that our players are suspended?
If the BFA disciplinary committee returned a verdict that the Zebras' match against China was certainly fixed, why then did they not attract the Fifa sanctions by not suspending their players, who are now on the verge of creating history, while we are told day-in-and-day-out that Fifa is saying that our players have to face the music simply because they might have ended up being used as pawns?
I was reading a statement by the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart on the controversy surrounding Asiagate and the good lawyer seemed to strike the right baton by saying that he didn't believe in the punishment of players whom he considered powerless pawns in the game.
I'm certainly not Mushekwi's advocate but what I can see in this young man is a good future, not only for himself as a striker, but also for his country - the Warriors brand that he represents in the jungles of international football.
When we needed him most, during the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup final against Zambia at Rufaro last year, a half-fit Mushekwi rose to the occasion and scored twice against Chipolopolo in a 3-1 win for the Warriors to send a full-house into delirium.
This season he was leading the goal-scoring charts in the Confederations Cup, scoring at will for CAPS United, and taking them to their furthest spot in the competition, the final qualifying round, which they would probably have won had Mushekwi, Method Mwanjali and Lionel Mtizwa played against Al-Hilal who lost a penalty shootout semi-final contest against Club Sfaxien last week.
He has also made a storming start to his debut season in South Africa, scoring goals regularly, and on Wednesday he scored twice for the Warriors in their 3-1 win over Mozambique in an international friendly.
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