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Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
WHEN children are growing up, their parents have wishes about what they want them to be when they grow up, but being sportsperson is least of those considerations.
The late father of Chicken Inn and national team goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze, Allan, a former policeman based at Fairbridge in Bulawayo, wanted him to be a doctor. At some stage, the young Chipezeze did share in that dream but gave up when he started playing club football.
“My late father Allan wanted me to be a doctor when I was growing up, I felt that at some stage but when I started playing club football I realised that I had talent for football,’’ said Chipezeze.
A lot of soccer players do not usually start off in positions in which they eventually excel in at the highest level. It is the same story with Chipezeze who started off as a striker when he took up soccer while at Mkoba 4 Primary School in Gweru before changing into a goalkeeper while in Grade Five after the regular goal minder was injured.
“I started off my career as a striker when I started playing football at Mkoba 4 Primary, I only moved into goals in Grade Five when the keeper was injured and found myself enjoying it,’’ said Chipezeze.
Born in Bulawayo on 11 March 1990, Chipezeze attended Fairbridge Primary School up to Grade Three. He then moved to Gweru to finish his primary and secondary school education. He only passed three subjects at Ordinary Level, these being English, Agriculture and Literature in English.
His football career took off at Bristol City where he played together with his now Chicken Inn teammate, striker Edmore Chirambadare. He disclosed that he became serious about playing football in 2004 and 2005 while turning out for the Bristol City juniors.
A move to Division Two side Red Cross came in 2006 where he did not feature as he was still considered a junior player. The following year, Chipezeze signed up for Matshiya Kwakhiwe in the Zifa Southern Region Division One where he was the third choice goalkeeper. In 2008, he went to Gweru Pirates where he enjoyed the status of being the first choice goalkeeper.
Still not satisfied, Chipezeze left Gweru Pirates for Zimbabwe Alloys where he played for three seasons under the mentorship of Peter Manoti. In 2011, Chipezeze was spotted by Chicken Inn goalkeepers coach Julius Ndlovu when Zim Alloys took on the Gamecocks in a friendly match. The Bulawayo-based club wanted him to move that same year but Manoti asked him to play one more season in Division One.
Chipezeze finally realised his dream of joining a Premier Soccer League side when he signed for Chicken Inn in 2012 who were coached by the late Adam Ndlovu at that time. There was fierce competition at the Gamecocks who also had Njabulo Nyoni and Liberty Chirava as other goalkeepers. The pressure eased off in 2013 when Nyoni went to Highlanders which left Chipezeze and Chirava to fight for the number one slot.
The break finally came for Chipezeze last season when he made his Castle Lager Premier Soccer League debut against Chapungu at Luveve Stadium, a match the Bulawayo side won 2-1. Since then he has become the first name to be written down whenever Joey Antipas picks his starting line up.
“It really feels great to be the first choice goalkeeper, it all came down to hard work, and I knew my chance was going to come. With the kind of support I got from Chicken Inn I never thought of leaving,’’ Chipezeze said.
Chicken Inn find themselves on top of the log with three matches to go, the remaining fixtures for the Gamecocks being two matches in Bulawayo against Tsholotsho and Harare City with the last being a match in Harare against Flame Lily. As the last line of defence, Chipezeze has vowed to play his part to ensure Chicken In are crowned champions come the end of the season.
“The key for us has been working as a unit, backing each other up. I will try my best to keep clean sheets in the remaining matches,’’ Chipezeze said.
He believes his strength is in cutting crosses, something that most local goalkeepers struggle to deal with.
The 25-year-old has been in goals for the all the 27 league fixtures for Chicken Inn and has picked up the ball from his nets 20 times. He has been rested for the two Chibuku Super Cup fixtures with Pride Zendera in goals in the 2-0 triumph over Hwange and the loss 5-3 on penalties to Chapungu in the quarter-finals.
His brilliant exploits have seen him being called up to the senior national team. He was the substitute goalkeeper when Zimbabwe took on Guinea in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Harare and was again backup for Donovan Bernard in the second leg of the African Nation Championship qualifier against Lesotho in Maseru. Before being called up into the Warriors squad this year, his only other national team recognition came at Under-20 level where he, however, failed to make the grade due to a tough challenge from George Chigova and Chirava.
Customarily married to Marvelous Ngwenya with the couple blessed with a 15-month-old son Junior Bandile, Chipezeze has settled well in the high density suburb of Cowdray Park where he is renting two rooms. He has plans of acquiring his own house as well as a car in the not so distant future.
Like many local footballers, he has dreams of playing outside the country with Europe being his preferred destination. His contract expires at the end of this year and with the kind of good form he has shown this season, there is no doubt that Chicken Inn will try by all means to entice him to commit his future to the club.
The local striker he fears the most is Leonard Fiyado who has scored three goals past him this season, first a brace when he was turning out for Caps United and a single goal when he had switched allegiance to ZPC Kariba.
Off the game, Chipezeze who does not consume alcohol spends time with his Chicken Inn teammates Moses Jackson and Tafadzwa Kutinyu. Chipezeze is also a member of the Revelation Church of God where he has been worshipping since 2013.
The first born in a family of two boys, his younger brother Evans is also a goalkeeper for Gweru City. If Chicken Inn do go on to be crowned the Zimbabwean club champions at the end of the season, there is no doubt that Chipezeze would have played a massive part in that success.
Online Reporter