adminMwaruwari, who grew up looking up to senior players at Highlanders where he was a junior plucked from Magwegwe by Ali Dube, with Madinda as his childhood hero, yesterday said he was deeply touched by the passing on of a friend and brother.
“When our younger generation of players came on board in the national team set up, Adam was like a brother, guiding us in camp and at training. He was an inspiration who looked at the team goals and ensured that we felt at home and we give our best for the nation,” said Mwaruwari.
The former Manchester City striker said he had to postpone his trip to the UK where he would have joined his family for the festive season.
“I got a call from home on Sunday morning just as I was ready to fly out to the UK. I called off the trip to be with the Ndlovu family and Zimbabwe as we go through this painful moment where we mourn the passing on of a true legend, a striker par excellence. He was a man of great humility who was liked and loved by all those that he came across,” said Mwaruwari.
Adam was travelling to Victoria Falls with brother Peter and a friend Nomqhele Tshili when their car crashed at the 417km peg along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road. Tshili died on the spot while Adam passed on, enroute to hospital.
Peter was admitted to Mater Dei Hospital after being attended to at the Victoria Falls Hospital soon after the accident.
Mwaruwari said Adam was a brotherly figure who would lighten up camp and ease nerves of younger and new members of the team through his jokes and advice.
“When I joined the Warriors, he was already a senior player always ready to give advice and encouragement to the whole group. When I moved to Europe he was someone I communicated with regularly about my early days.
“He did not stay longer in Switzerland where I also played at some stage as he came back home, but he was somebody I really looked up to having been brought even much closer by my agent Ralph Nkomo who knew him too. He was an inspirational brother and teammate,” said the former Blackburn forward who is respected as one of the only three Zimbabweans to have played in a worldwide respected league — the English Barclays Premiership.
Mwaruwari said even when he held his testimonial match, he had been well received by former Warriors players including Adam.
“They came in numbers to support the launch of the Benjani Mwaruwari Foundation. I was really touched to see some of the guys I grew up looking up to, devoting their time and energy to my cause. They supported even the junior soccer tournament under the foundation,” said Mwaruwari.
He said his prayers were with former Warriors skipper Peter, who is regarded alongside Bruce Grobbelaar as some of the best players to come out of Zimbabwe.
“I wish him a speedy recovery so that he can carry on with the development work in the game that he had embarked on. May he take solace in the fact that my family and the rest of the football fraternity are sharing with him the grief of losing a dear brother, friend and teammate. We wish him a speedy recovery,” said Mwaruwari.
Another Warrior, Noel Kaseke, said he was caught by surprise by the sad news of the Ndlovus fatal crash near Victoria Falls.
“Just on Saturday I was talking to my wife Blessing and saying I need to call Peter, there are some issues we left hanging after the Angola match in October and he had promised that he was going to put a word or two here and there for me. Then the next morning I was met with news of the accident and passing on of Adam.
“Adam was like a brother, always encouraging and ready to help where he could. We won the championship together at Highlanders in 2002. I learnt a lot from him as he was already coming from Europe. May his soul rest in eternal peace and I wish Peter Ndlovu a speedy recovery. Our prayers and thoughts are with the Ndlovu family, and I know Zimbabwe is in a state of mourning and may God guide us through this sad week,” said Kaseke from Larnaka in Cyprus.
Kaseke never got a chance to play with a man regarded as the best centre striker to play for Zimbabwe since 1980. He was the second highest scorer for the Warriors with 34 goals, four less than his brother Peter.
Online Reporter