CAPS UTD’S WORST-KEPT SECRET

Mugove Chigada-Zimpapers Sports Hub

When most clubs scrambled for new talent during the off-season, CAPS United, too, were in the thick of things, but never lost their belief in “Bran the Broken”, Rodwell Chinyengetere.

And on Saturday, as he faced the Mbare end goalpost at Rufaro Stadium, the exact place of his horrific double fracture in 2012, Chinyengetere buried his ghosts to give life to CAPS United.

The 1-0 win over Yadah has done little to wash away CAPS United’s unwanted record of one of the worst starts to a season in two decades, but it is a big relief.

While this could just be a rallying point for the Premiership side, it is difficult to ignore Chinyengetere’s position in the puzzle.

He may be at the tail end of his career, but he still found the strength to remind his colleagues that while coach Lloyd Chitembwe has been under fire, players must also take full responsibility for the destiny of their teams.

His journey speaks to that, and his has been the long game.

To better understand it, you need to go back to that Saturday afternoon, 22 September 2012,  Chinyengetere’s fall from the tower, the double fracture on his leg.

“I got the information during the game that he was already admitted at Avenues Clinic. It affected me for the rest of the game, and for months that followed,” said Artwell Mukandi, the goalkeeper who collided with Chinyengetere during that game.

The now-retired footballer was speaking in an exclusive interview with Zimpapers Sports Hub.

“I had to make a follow-up soon after the game. I arrived there at the hospital. I needed to know his condition. There I met his family, teammates, and club officials. It was a depressing situation, a sad chapter of my life,” Mukandi explained, at pains as he relived the ordeal.

“When I look back, what hurts me the most is that this was a player that was way too good.”

For good measure, just before his injury, the late coach Rahman Gumbo had given Chinyengetere a surprise start for the Warriors.

It was in the 2013 AFCON qualifier against Burundi that the former Hwange man left an impression difficult to ignore, combining well with Knowledge Musona.

Injury paused the dream. For many, it was the end. His spirit, though, indicated otherwise, he had just been pegged back.

Such was Chinyengetere’s hunger that he tried to force his way back to the top even when he was not fully fit.

“Initially, when he came here, he still had a metal implant. I then told him to go back to Hwange to heal and then come back,” FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza told Zimpapers Sports Hub.

“It’s a miracle to be where I am today is surely the work of God,” Chinyengetere was quoted saying by The Sunday Mail just before he was crowned Soccer Star of the Year under champions FC Platinum in 2017.

The player had reached his peak again, exactly five years later. He had gone through the fire and come out unhinged.

He was relentless.

Before the success, he had even tasted what it is like to move to the South African Premier League, at Baroka.

By the end of 2018, he had won the Soccer Star of the Year award for the second time, entering the history books in the process.

That also came with two league titles.

“He is such a joy to work with. His discipline and hard work were just on another level,” said Mapeza.

The question that still lingers is: what could have been if he had avoided the injury?

“I didn’t know much about him when he was still at Hwange. I only saw him playing in the national team, and I thought he was a good player then,” said Mapeza.

“But I think he has done well in his career, and he has also played a big part in helping the young players.”

And when CAPS United coach Chitembwe turned to him to try and turn CAPS United’s fortunes around in the past seasons, he probably knew exactly what he was getting.

On Sunday, Chinyengetere’s story had come full circle.

While back in 2012 he left Hwange at the mercy of a rampant Monoz side that eventually won 3-0, on Saturday not even a miracle could have saved Yadah when Chinyengetere stood his ground.

“For him to have recovered like that, to continue to carry the burdens of teams, to score a goal when a team is under such pressure, shows he is special.

“And nothing can stop him. I’m happy for him,” Mukandi said.

For CAPS United, the battle to turn their fortunes may just have begun, but what is important is that they have amidst them the keeper of the most painful stories.

And who better to provide them with inspiration than Chinyengetere, CAPS United’s own “three-eyed raven.”