C’mon, give that man a Bell’s

Makomborero Mutimukulu Sports Editor
THERE must be something wrong with this script. At the end of a campaign that saw him join an exclusive table that only had Sunday Chidzambwa and Charles Mhlauri as its occupants Kallisto Pasuwa deserves a Bell’s. “Give this man a Bell’s” is the famous pay-off line for a whiskey originally produced by Arthur Bell & Sons.
A product of South Africa’s King James advertising agency the advert, titled “The Reader”, focuses on how a man pulls all the stops to become literate so that he can read his son’s book.
After many struggles, the old timer walks up to his son and says: “I read your book.”
The son looks at his dad and asks: “You read my book?” After a nod from the father and a hug between the pair, the son says: “Barman, give this man a Bell’s.”
After a near flawless run to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, Zimbabwe should be saying: “Barman, give Pasuwa a Bell’s.”
But no one’s saying that.
He does dress in slim fit Gucci suits and shiny shoes; he has the irritating habit of avoiding the media, and on the occasions he does talk, he is not the most eloquent of chaps. He comes across as a bit unconvincing.
But that should not detract from Pasuwa’s achivements.
The senior men’s national soccer team gaffer has his own way of doing business and sees unpolished diamonds in players who many believe should not be seen anyway near a Warriors camp.
In the opening qualifier away to Malawi he plucked Justice Jangano from Division One side Gunners and thrust him into the deep end.
Marshall Mudehwe started the home tie against Swaziland, had a stinker, but was recalled for last weekend’s game against Guinea before an accident on his way to Harare ruled him out.
Tatenda Mukuruva is yet to convince some that he is the best goalie Zimbabwe has to offer, with the way he deals with aerial boys a real worry, but in the Dynamos man Pasuwa sees a star; he nicknames him “Tora Mari United”.
There is not glitz and glamour in the way Pasuwa’s teams do their thing but he gets the job done.
And for that the man deserves a more respect than he is getting.
He had to work twice as hard for half as much as he steered the Warriors to a third Afcon dance but what he is getting is far from a Bell’s.
Zimbabwe are the only Cosafa side heading to Gabon 2017 yet the man who made it all happen, under very difficult conditions, is getting kicks – not kudos.
Pasuwa is accused of favouritism in team selection, with former Warriors goalkeeper Tapiwa Kapini the latest to allege that players managed by Gibson Mahachi are getting preferential treatment.
Mahachi is also Pasuwa’s manager.
We have been down this road before and no one has been able to remotely prove favouritism on the gaffer’s part. But somehow there is still an appetite to chew this dry, marrow-less bone.
“Am just asking, is the Zimbabwe national team picked on performance or because Mahachi is your agent?” Kapini lit it up on Facebook before going deeper in an interview with The Chronicle.
He was quoted saying: “Mahachi is killing our football. Players must and should be selected on present form not because one is from a certain stable.
If you check one of the most consistent goalkeepers Petros Mhari (FC Platinum) is continuously being overlooked simply because he does not belong to Mahachi’s stable.
Surely can we compare Donovan Bernard and even Tatenda Mukuruva to Mhari? God help our football. “We have a situation where some people are using the national team to market their players.
We know these things because we talk to the players, but they can’t openly say it for fear of victimisation and naturally jeopardising their chances of ever playing for the Warriors, but some of us will not sit back and keep quiet.”
This latest episode shouldn’t surprise Pasuwa; his is the tale of a prophet with no honour in his home town.
When he won four league titles on the bounce with an average Dynamos side, he was described as a lucky fellow.
Now he has Zimbabwe dining with African football’s aristocrats for only the third time in the country’s history and some are still unconvinced that he is the real deal.
Pasuwa has done the business in his own way. Give the man a Bell’s.