Call him Prophet Sadomba

 Makomborero Mutimukulu
ZIMBABWE international striker Edward Sadomba dreamt scoring a controversial goal for his Libyan side Al Ahli Beng­hazi just hours before going on to do so against African football aristocrats Al Ahly of Egypt in a Champions League tie on Friday.However, there was a problem with the script the dream took as the near side assistant referee had his flag raised signalling for an “offside.”

Being a highly spiritual man, the 28-year-old speed merchant decided to continue with his fast and prayer sessions as he sought to put right what went wrong in the dream.

The former Dynamos striker even asked his wife Sherly and a close friend, who are all in Harare, to pray too for his dream of scoring to come true, minus the assistant referee’s raised flag, of course.

Reads a WhatsApp message he sent to the friend sent on the day of the match which ended 1-0 in favour of Benghazi:

“Match 2pm. Ndarota tichitamba neAhly, our legs…angaachiita kunge akabatwa, ndatanga kuisa effort ndaka­batwa kudaro then I scored but one line man was saying offside (but) ref was saying it’s a goal. So, pane zvirikurwisa tozvibvisa monaz ino.”

As it turned out Sadomba made the difference as Beng­hazi stunned Al Ahly in Tunisia.

Sadomba’s 67th minute strike, his fourth in five Champions League matches this season, looked controversial too as the striker appeared to use his hand to control the ball before slot­ting past an advancing Al Ahly goalkeeper.

The Egyptian side’s skipper Wael Gomaa had made a meal of clearing a harmless looking free kick.

Sadomba could have gone on to double his tally late in the match but a curling shot went just wide minutes before indeci­sion, or greediness, on the part of a teammate denied him an open route to goal.

Maybe the second goal was not meant to be since it was not part of the dream?

“Yeah you could say that…,” said Sadomba.

“But look I thank God for his favour, it was a difficult game with very few chances and I am happy that I made the difference.

“However, and more impor­tantly, I am happy that we go to Egypt with something to play for. It’s not over yet though, Al Ahly are the defending champi­ons and have been in situations where they have had to fight for survival before so this is just half time of a 180 minute long battle.”

The question on whether Sadomba used his hand to con­trol the ball before slotting home dominated post match television review shows.

Television replays appeared to suggest that indeed the Zim­babwean used a part of his arm to bring the ball under control.

And, with hindsight, one would argue the raised flag in Sadomba’s dream was not for offside but a hand ball.

“Yeah it could be so…,” said the striker. “However, it must be noted that everything works out perfectly for those who believe and trust in the Lord.

“Having dreamt of my goal being disallowed I prayed hard, skipped breakfast and lunch. So even when we went to the break at 0-0 and Al Ahly came back playing for a draw in the sec­ond half my confidence never faltered …I knew the goal would come.”

Meanwhile, Sadomba’s goal and all round solid performance has seen Al Ahly beginning to make enquiries about the much travelled striker. With just two months left on his contract the Egyptian side are understood to have sent representatives to sound out Sadomba soon after Friday’s match.

Even the panellists on Al Ahly TV’s match review show appeared to be in the know as they sought to probe the Zim­babwean about a possible move to Cairo.

“So Sadomba are you going to stay with Bengazi or you will move?” asked one of them.

“Well I don’t know, I have two months left on my contract and we will see how it goes. However, at the moment I am happy at Bengazi and committed to help­ing the team do well,” replied the striker.

“You know Al Ahly is a big team right?” continued the anchor. “Yes I do but everything is in the hands of God,” answered the Zimbabwean.