Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
THE closest he got to playing topflight football was when he travelled for trials with Dynamos in 2014 and since then, Endurance Mpofu has had to settle for lower division leagues.
The Old Lobengula-born midfielder still harbours dreams of one day breaking into the topflight league, but cannot explain how he has failed so this far.
“Honestly, I did not expect to be still playing in the lower division leagues at this point in my career.
“Up to now, I do not know what it will take for me to make that major breakthrough. I believe maybe I have not had enough chances to prove myself or maybe it’s just not being at the right place at the right time. I really do not know what happens,” said Mpofu.
The pint-sized midfielder says his dreams almost came true in 2014 when a link led him to Harare to try his luck at Dynamos, but nothing materialised.
“I really thought this was my opportunity and I had told myself that. At the time Callisto Pasuwa was in charge of DeMbare and I did all I could, but things did not go according to plan.
“I remember it was in the mid-transfer window and Pasuwa said he could not add me to the squad at the time. I then joined Harare FC that was being coached by Joel Luphahla and played with the likes of Highlanders’ midfielder Adrian Silla,” he said.
After starting his football career at the age of 10, Mpofu feels he should have achieved a lot in his career at his age.
“I started my career playing at New West City in 2003 and then moved to Lobengula Sharks in 2005 up to 2007.
“After that I stopped playing for about three years because my mother didn’t want me to play football.
“I stayed with my mother and sister and they both did not want to hear about me playing football. I had coaches coming home to plead with them to allow me to play, but my mum was adamant that I should place all my focus on school work.
“After I wrote my O-Levels and did not do so well, I then moved to Zim Leopards in Division Two in 2012.
“The following year I started working at Arenel and played for their team, which was in Division Three. I was about to join Nust in 2014, but before I could sign I went to Harare for trials with Dynamos,” he said.
Since his failure to secure a deal at Dynamos, Mpofu has been hopping from one lower division team to another.
He featured for army side Moto Moto in the Zifa Southern Region Division One league last year and was trying his luck at Ajax Hotspurs in the same league when the country was afflicted by the Covid-19 outbreak at the beginning of this year and lockdown suspended all sporting activities that remains in place to date.
Staying at home has not been easy for the player, who is frustrated with the lack of action without clear signs of when he might kick the ball again. — @innocentskizoe
Online Reporter
Londile Moyo