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Tadious Manyepo in YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon
RECEIVING the man-of-the-match accolade in the match against Guinea is the ultimate prize his sacrifice merited.
Warriors have packed their bags preparing to leave, as they have always done, early from the African Cup of Nations underway here.
A last-minute 1-0 defeat to Senegal in the opener and a 2-1 loss to Malawi knocked out the Warriors from a tournament they were participating for the fifth time.
They haven’t been good enough in all the editions they have contested since they first entered this territory in 2004.
And this, like all the editions before, was the same story just crafted in a different setting with a different cast.
Desperate to leave the fiesta honourably, coach Norman Mapeza let go of caution and made eight changes to his charges in the final group match against Guinea on Tuesday night.
Only captain Knowledge Musona, for his experience not ability, Bruce Kangwa literally retrieved from the garbage bin but dishing out decent performances, and Gerald Takwara retained their places for the third game running.
While focus, right from the first match against the Lions of Teranga has been on the attacking third where Ishmael Wadi has been outstanding, there has been a man keeping Mapeza’s defensive unit intact — Takwara.
Yet the Venda Football Academy man, who never kicked a ball throughout the qualifiers for this tournament was a surprise inclusion in this team.
With Zimbabwe facing problems in central defence where Alec Mudimu has proven he can’t foot the bill while partnering Teenage Hadebe, Mapeza decided to experiment with the 26-year-old.
He has made his name playing as a midfielder for FC Platinum and Ngezi Platinum Stars.
But Mapeza, as someone who has worked with Takwara before, knew he could make a good defender for his composure.
His presence kept together a defensive unit that despite some pedestrian blunders along the way proved to be solid.
And Takwara never put his foot wrong, working so hard defensively and was always right there in the opposition box trying to help out with the attacking duties.
It’s a shame he wasn’t given the player-of-the-match accolade against Senegal after playing a blinder the entire afternoon.
But after being named to start for the third time against Guinea, Takwara showed he is top class.
With Zimbabwe leading 2-0 at the interval, they were so sure they had to do most of the defending in the second half as Guinea would push to get something from the match.
But Takwara, joined by Peter Muduhwa at the heart of defence, Kangwa on the left and Godknows Murwira on right-back, marshalled the defence with so much authority.
His aerial tussles were almost always successful and blocks, as well as interceptions, spot-on.
He literally put his body on the line as Zimbabwe held on to record a 2-1 victory in this final group match although they had already been eliminated.
The highly-rated Liverpool ace Naby Keita crashed into the wall erected by Takwara not once or twice but the entire period, too often to even count.
With his special match-prize in hand, Takwara nods his head and agrees this could be the biggest honour he has received in his career.
After all this has been his first time playing in this tournament.
“The feeling is massive. What we wanted as a team was to win this match and I am glad we did that. We have disappointed the nation and we needed to salvage some pride in this match,” said Takwara.
“We played with our heart and I would like to thank the whole team. The experience at the AFCON is incredible. The quality of the players is up there and you know this is what makes this tournament such a big one.
“The environment has been encouraging and the passion in the streets, well everything is beautiful.
“Playing at the back is not something new for me. I have played almost every position in midfield and at the back. So it wasn’t so challenging.”
Besides Takwara, Zimbabwe also had their unsung hero Takudzwa Chimwemwe, goalkeeper Petros Mhari, Jordan Zemura, Onismor Bhasera and Kangwa playing well.
Zimbabwe will have to quickly forget the debacle that comes with being the first team to be eliminated from the African Cup of Nations and focus on qualifying for the 2023 fiesta in Ivory Coast.
Online Reporter