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Charles Mabika Special Correspondent
THERE is now a strong possibility that there might be a player who will reach the 20-goal finish mark which has been a frustrating wait of over a decade for fans of our top-flight football.
With eight rounds of matches to go before the end of the season, CAPS United’s top marksman, William “Mr Chibuku” Manondo, leads the top goalscorers’ charts with 15 strikes, five ahead of Chicken Inn’s Brian “Titisi” Muza.
The last time that a player won the Golden Boot award after bagging more than 20 goals was back in 2010 when Gunners FC’s predator, Norman “Lumumba” Maroto, struck 22 times. Since then, there hasn’t been a player who has emulated that feat with former Shabanie Mine’s forward, Nelson “Nedza” Maziwisa, being the closest with 18 finishes two years after Maroto’s haul.
And yet in the years gone by, forwards used to score goals for fun, with high target finishes at the end of each season.
The country’s highest ever scorer is the late Peter “Thunderboots” Nyama who scored a whopping 62 league goals for Chibuku Shumba in 1970, a year in which he also ended up scooping the Soccer Star of the Year award.
Former Dynamos’ talisman, Moses “Bambo” Chunga is the highest scorer after Independence with 46 league goals in 1986.
Before and after Independence and into the turn of the new millennium, some of the players who hit the net with more than 20 goals nearly every season were the likes of Metal Box’s Chita “Black Mamba” Antonio, CAPS United’s trio of Shacky “Mr Goals” Tauro, Alois “Zola” Bunjira and Nyasha “Shaqui” Mushekwi; the Glamour Boys’ gunslingers Daniel “Dhidhidhi” Ncube and Gift “Ghetto” Mpariwa; the Black Rhinos’ pair of Maronga “The Bomber” Nyangela and the late Jerry “Dzungu” Chidawa; and former Highlanders’ menacing trio of Tobias “Flashdance” Mudyambanje, Zenzo “Zemura” Moyo and the late Adam “Adamski” Ndlovu.
There were even some midfielders who were high scorers, like the late Dynamos’ Kuda “Kuda Boy” Muchemeyi, who once scored 16 goals for his side in 1976 and David “Naughty Flea” Muchineripi (late) who scored 15 times for Black Aces in the same year.
After “Lumumba’s” 22-goal harvest in 2010, the drought set in.
Local fans have of late, been getting used to forwards picking up the Golden Boot award with meagre finishes like 10, 12 or 14 goals.
The big question is: Why has this lack of potency in front of goal become a trend on our playing fields?
Maroto, who also used to score many goals “for fun” for his other former clubs Dynamos and Motor Action, thinks that lack of tactical awareness and seriousness on the pitch are some of the reasons why our local strikers are floundering in front of goal.
“Some of the youngsters I’m watching these days try to be fancy and also make runs in the wrong areas.
To get to at least to the 20-goal mark you need to wander more in the 18-yard box during your team’s attacks in order to capitalise on simple tap-ins and even goalmouth scrambles,” he revealed.
The pint-sized, former marksman added: “Our current players seem to miss more than they are scoring because they are timid in the penalty box. One needs to be fearless and perseverant when you are your team’s leading target person. The right partnership and support staff in midfield and upfront is also important when goals are being created. At Gunners, I had brilliant partners like Ramson ‘Chingwa Chedu’ Zhuwawo, Felix ‘Mbesuma’ Kuswatuka and Willard ‘Bute’ Katsande who made my job easier.”
Antonio, who later moved from Metal Box and featured for Zimbabwe Saints and Black Aces, felt that today’s strikers are not “ambitious, hungry and adventurous enough”.
“During our time, when I got into the penalty box in search of a goal, my hair stood on its edges like a bull terrier, sensing blood. I would feel the adrenalin rising ferociously in all over me and when a cross came, I didn’t care where my marker was. I would just bulldoze forward or sideways to smash the ball home.”
Former Bosso opportunistic predator, Mudyambanje, reckons that the current players seemed not to carry out their coaches’ instructions fully and perhaps wanted to craft their own ways in an attacking position.
“During our time, we would listen carefully to our coaches, some of whom had been top-notch finishers during their time. They would teach you tricky ploys to get past defenders and score from every angle. The ability to be able to shield the ball and also create scoring chances for others is another important factor that makes one a top finisher when your team-mates compliment your earlier set-ups with return passes for you to crack home,” he said.
So, can Manondo grab at least a goal in each of the remaining matches for “Makepekepe” to surpass the 20-goal mark that was last reached by “Lumumba” 12 years ago?
We have approximately eight weeks now to find out that answer.
P.S. Peter Nyama won the Soccer Star of the Year award in 1970 and NOT 1971 as reflected in some media circles. The winner in 1971 was Tendai Chieza.
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