Online Reporter
Robson Sharuko
H-Metro Editor
REINHARD Fabisch’s Dream Team!
A sporting brand of immortality, a powerful vehicle of hope, a national team which united its nation in a way no other had done before.
And, has done since.
Peter Ndlovu, Benjamin Nkonjera, Bruce Grobbelaar, Willard Mashinkila-Khumalo, Agent Sawu, Vitalis Takawira, Rahman Gumbo, Ephraim Chahwanda, Francis Sandura, to name but just a few of those heroes.
The only Warriors’ Class to come within 90 minutes of playing at the World Cup finals.
Ultimately, they failed but they left a legacy.
And, their heroism is now being celebrated in a book, which has just been completed.
The book is titled “Fabisch’s Men − The Team That Made Us Dream.”
The book celebrates “14 Months Of Looking Good.”
It touches on the highlights, the epic battles against the likes of Cameroon and Guinea, profiles the heroes of the team and captures the mood in the media back then.
It also celebrates the voices behind the Dream Team and there is a chapter on the late commentator Evans Mambara.
It promises to be a good read, not only for those who enjoyed the Dream Team’s adventure but even to those who were not around but have heard, and read, the stories about their exploits.
It also promises to be a good read for those who now question the immortality of the Dream Team.
The guys who base their shallow argument along the lines that Fabisch and his men never qualified for any major tournament.
The same people who, somehow, argue that qualifying for a 24-team AFCON finals represents a better achievement than falling at the final hurdle of making it to a 12-team Nations Cup finals.
The same people who, somehow, argue that the Warriors of the ‘80s, who had only six places to play for − as the hosts and defending champions qualified automatically to the eight-team AFCON finals − were failures.
And, these great Warriors should be judged the same way as those who now have to qualify for a 24-team Nations Cup finals.
The same people who, somehow, say the quality of that Dream Team should have simply taken them to the AFCON finals.
But, somehow, they chose to turn a blind eye on the quality of the opponents Fabisch and his men faced, including a Zambian team good enough to finish second at the ‘94 AFCON finals and third at the ‘96 Nations Cup finals.
The same Chipolopolo side failed to beat those Warriors home and away.
The book appears to argue that sometimes, in sport, the greatness of teams cannot be measured by mere results but the sheer impact they made on their nations, their communities and their people.
Londile Moyo