Dauda cries foul

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter

DENNIS DAUDA, probably the best central defender in the domestic Premiership today, is a disappointed man after he was overlooked for a place in the Warriors squad to take on Zambia in an international friendly at the National Sports Stadium this afternoon.The lanky defender, who has found the quality that saw him being crowned the best player in the country two years ago, was a surprise omission from the home-based troops of Warriors who will battle Chipolopolo today.

The high-profile match gets underway at 4pm at the giant stadium.

Dauda’s career appeared set for dizzy heights when he was voted Soccer Star of the Year in 2014 while playing for ZPC Kariba.

He then went to Turkey for trials organised by local football agent, Kudzi Shaba and even impressed former Arsenal captain Tony Adams who was the sporting director of Azerbaijani club Gabala which needed his services.

The club, from the country which sits on the crossroads of south west Asia and south east Europe, plays in Europe’s inter-club competitions and was in Turkey for a training camp.

But Dauda was found wanting, in the final trial game, when the club wanted to check his technical awareness when it comes to defending set-pieces with the Zimbabwe defender, twice, being caught out during corner kicks despite his height advantage.

He blew a golden chance to pocket $350 000, in net earnings per year for two-and-a-half years, at the Azerbaijani club while ZPC Kariba would have pocketed a cool $175 000 in net earnings for the remainder of six months of that season.

Dauda would have then picked $700 000 in net earnings for the remaining two years of his contract and that, coupled with bonuses and other perks, would have earned him more than $1 million by the time his contract ended.

That would have represented a huge leap forward in the career of a player who was playing Division One football in 2013.

“He has room to improve, but he cannot start at this level, the competition is just too much and the level is just too high,” an assessment of the player read.

Interestingly, this came at a time when negotiations had already started for Dauda to put pen to paper, as he had impressed in other areas of his game, but the club decided against signing him telling his handlers they needed to work on the shortcomings that had been noted.

That failed move appeared to affect Dauda and he wasn’t the same player when he turned out for ZPC Kariba last year before he moved to CAPS United at the beginning of the season.

He initially struggled to settle at the Green Machine, but has found his range of late and has been impressive, both with his defensive and offensive skills, which saw him score twice in the Harare Derby to drag his team from the jaws of defeat to an incredible draw.

However, Dauda’s exploits haven’t earned him a place among the Warriors home-based players ahead of today’s battle against Zambia although three of his team mates — Leonard Tsipa, Hardlife Zvirekwi and Ronald Pfumbidzai — have made the cut.

“Everyone wants to play for the national team, but it all depends with the coach who selects the players he wants in his team,” said Dauda yesterday.

“It is disappointing to be honest, but there is nothing I can do. We can’t all play for the national team, but hopefully, one day I would be called into the team.

“Each coach has players he believes in, but probably my time will come.”

Dauda thanked CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe for believing in him.

“The fact that the coach is playing me means he trusts me so in return I also play for the coach,” he said.

“I cannot really say my last season was affected by the failed move to Europe.

“I was just not in form.

“I have managed to score those goals simply because every set piece, as defenders, we go forward and we are good at heading.

“I go forward during set-pieces, but not during normal play. The moment we get a foul near the goal area, I am there.

“The back four we really understand each other and combine well.”

He said he was happy CAPS United were almost within range of winning the league title.

“The pressure is there, it’s building up, but we will fight until the end. We are confident that we will win the trophy,” said Dauda.