Costa honours national cap

IT sure feels good to be back home, after a very long time.

I am happy and have been meeting some old friends.

I have always been a Warrior and will forever remain one.

Yes, I have been called before for national team duty but I never turned up.

I had genuine reasons, either it was because of injury or because there was late communication from ZIFA.

However, this time everything was in place and here I am.

It has been an amazing week for me, I did not know I was this important to the Warriors squad.

The national team is the greatest team one can ever play for and to be considered a key figure in such a set up is overwhelming.

This massive reception, the star status I have been accorded has prompted me to think of my humble beginnings.

Mine was a bumpy journey.

I grew up without a father to protect me and my mother is all I have ever had since the day I was born in Hwedza.

I never had the privilege of growing under the wings of a father.

He was always on the move and I relied heavily on my mother.

I never really got to know my dad, even up to now I do not know his whereabouts.

I stayed with my grandparents in Chihota communal lands near Seke, before I moved to Chitungwiza for my primary school at St Aidens.

Being a bright schoolboy who attained nine points at Advanced Level, it was natural for me to be caught in between the need to pursue studies and my other desire to make it big in football.

Timely interventions by my godfathers Luke Masomere, renowned Polish soccer agent Wieslaw Grabowski and a relatively unknown football lover by the name Ben Chiondekwa swayed me towards the beautiful game.

And this afternoon, at 29, I am set to make my Warriors debut against Guinea in a must win 2017 African Nations Cup qualifier.

This achievement comes a few days after my goal helped my Czech Republic side Sparta Praha secure a UEFA Europa League Group stage slot.

These are great times indeed.

I have been playing at centre back for my club lately and it gives me the extra drive to overlap and score goals.

It is a positive development to my game but what is important today is the Warriors job at hand.

We have to beat Guinea at all cost.

It’s a pity our preparations are usually not that smooth but that should not get into our heads, we should stay focused.

Positivity is the way to go about this game, everything is in the head.

I believe in all the players who have been called up.

Being managed by internationally acclaimed football agency Sport Invest International, has been good for my career.

Remember, this is the same company that handles Arsenal keeper Petr Cech and a number of players in the Barclays Premier League, Bundesliga and the Russian elite league.

I am happy in the Czech Republic, they love me there, especially my 28-year-old Turkish sweetheart Selin.

However, my football story would not be complete without mentioning Seke High School and an unheralded Chitungwiza football lover called Chiondekwa.

It all began at this modest school in Chitungwiza.

Especially after Seke High reached the finals of the 2002 Coca Cola NASH competition.

That team had the likes of former Caps United linkman Masset Zengeni, Blessing Chimwamuchere and former Makepekepe striker Heavens Chinyama.

At the same time I was also playing for a Division 2 team Con Plant owned by Chiondekwa.

He took us – me and my long time friend Zengeni – for trials with Amazulu in Bulawayo and that is where I got my first taste of Premiership action.

By the way, I had also passed nine subjects at Ordinary Level and was already doing my Advanced Level at Seke High so Amazulu transferred me to Milton High on a scholarship programme.

My stay at Usuthu did not last for long as the team was relegated in 2005 before it crumbled a few months later.

I was at a crossroads.

I seriously considered quitting the game and switch to my childhood dream of becoming a teacher.

I returned to Harare and started training with Division One side Harare United.

In between, I had call-ups for the national Under-23 squad that was being coached by Masomere.

Vahombe would once again resurrect my career in 2006 when he landed the coaching job at Masvingo United.

He invited me to Masvingo, he wanted a left back and I wanted to play top flight league, so the answer was an obvious yes.

I played for two seasons at Yuna Yuna before returning to Harare at the expiry of my contract.

On my way back from Masvingo, just about the Chivhu area, I got a call from Prince Matore.

He wanted me to meet Grabowski.

Grabowski wanted me to sign for Darryn T.

Caps United and Caps FC wanted me too but I chose Grabowski because he promised to take me to Europe.

Beginning of 2008 I signed for Grabowski’s DT Africa and a few months later, around March I was flown to Poland alongside Clarence Foroma and Ndabenkulu Ncube.

We got the shock of our lives upon arrival.

We found out the team was a fifth tier side playing in more of a social league and I almost came back home.

What I remember most is that our team Wisla Ustronianka was popular because it had three black players.

That is how I was spotted by First Division side Zaglebie Lubin in 2009.

Zaglebie Lubin was then promoted into the elite Ekstraklasa.

I played in that league for three years.

Sport Invest International football agency were watching, they approached me in 2012 and I signed with them immediately because of their profile.

The switch from Grabowski to Sport Invest International immediately paid off, they took me to Sparta Praha at the beginning of the 2013/2014 season.

Sparta Prague are just like Dynamos here, they always play for first position, they fight for European Champions League football.

They are happy with my play, I have been playing a minimum of 25 games per season and chances are high they will renew my contract when it expires at the end of the 2015/2016 season.

But for now my focus is on the Warriors.

The Czech Republic based left back was speaking to The Sunday Mail’s Langton Nyakwenda at Rufaro Stadium on September 2.