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They are not just a football club; they are a way of life and a symbol of who these people are. When the team was not competing for honours over the years, you could see that these people were really missing something they call their own — their pride — and with just one loss under the sun, to most of them, it was like someone close had died.
The calls were coming from far and wide, regionally and internationally, and a former colleague called me from the UK to ask WHY Highlanders had lost, and not HOW they had lost. Such was the impact of last Saturday’s result, which ended Highlanders’ record 23 match unbeaten run in the league this season. You can say their 24-match unbeaten run, if you include the first round win in the Mbada Diamonds Cup.
It was certainly not a good night to hang out in Bulawayo last Saturday. The city just went to sleep. But some were in celebratory mood because they knew what the loss to Highlanders meant to their team — other championship contenders Dynamos. After getting rather too many calls about Highlanders losing and why and how they lost, I just told my friends; “even the walls of Berlin fell at some point, so what about the mortal souls who are mere football players?”
After the historic first fall of Highlanders, just like the Berlin Wall, as it appeared they would go all the way undefeated, there were celebrations all over. This was after those who follow Dynamos and those who sympathise with them realised a golden opportunity to get back to the top of the log. And get back they did with an empathic win over Shabanie Mine at Rufaro the following day.
That Highlanders were going to lose at some point was obvious, and in fact, they had ridden their luck in some matches, but you have to appreciate the kind of fresh air they have breathed into the Premiership. You have to appreciate the kind of fighting spirit they have thrown into the league. You have to appreciate the kind of excitement they have brought into the league. You have to appreciate the number of fans they have pulled from the comfort of their homes into the stadia countrywide.
And most importantly, you have to appreciate the kind of football and team spirit that coach Kelvin Kaindu has drummed into his boys. You have to appreciate too, the kind of family union that club chairman Peter Dube has brought back into the club, despite all the side shows emanating from the boardroom over the handling of club finances.
You have to appreciate Dube as he is. You don’t have to like him. You don’t have to know him. You just have to judge him by what he has done for the club, on and off the field of play. In our journalism corridors, we refer to him as “Isiqholo” (Hard head), because history has shown that if he does not agree with you, he will say his mind and if you cross his principles, he will also say it without mincing a word.
Like every human being, he has his weaknesses but for now, it’s so far so good in relation to his first year as Highlanders chairman. And the same goes to his coach, Kaindu, who was poached from Zambia in the run up to the 2012 season by Dube’s predecessor, Themba Ndlela. You might want to add that Ndlela and his committee made a good choice in Kaindu, and whatever happens from now, the young coach has already made a big shout to be named Coach of the Year.
You also have to appreciate the good work done by Kenny Mubaiwa, the Dynamos chairman and his committee, and head coach Calisto Pasuwa and his technical team and players. It’s not easy to remain at the top of the game for two years in a fast improving league like ours, and that they are on top of the log, huffing and puffing in a fierce contest with Highlanders we have not seen among the two giants since Bosso pipped DeMbare for the title in 1998, only to be revisited, though in a less tense fashion when Dynamos won the title in 2007, speaks volumes about the pedigree of the Glamour Boys and their character to “Never say die.” And half the time, history goes behind them and pushes them to better heights because we have seen them launch remarkable come backs in the league race, just like last season when they beat FC Platinum to the title by a goal difference.
Such resilience becomes institutionalised with time and when a certain crop of players miss the grain, it becomes simple to tell them “this is not the DeMbare we know.”
Nonetheless, Kaindu knows the kind of fight he has put himself into and he has already tasted the kind of temperature that goes with leading a team like Highlanders and chasing for honours, particularly when neck to neck with Dynamos.
“It seems people are ganging up against us. If you were at Rufaro on Saturday and saw the way Dynamos supporters celebrated with Monomotapa you will agree with me that it was not about us versus Monomotapa. There were other forces against us, supporters from other teams uniting against us and coaches also uniting against us. I know that is how it is with football sometimes but we will always try to plan ahead of everyone,” Kaindu moaned early this week.
However, it was natural that Dynamos fans will back Monomotapa because they wanted a result favourable to their own cause as well; in the same way Highlanders fans cheered on Chicken Inn as they beat Dynamos at Barbourfields last Wednesday.
Such is football.
The two title chasing teams are in action this weekend with Bosso at home and hoping to bounce back to winning ways when they meet police side Black Mambas, but it is the match at the Colliery between Dynamos and Hwange that has got everyone talking.
If there is a match that was supposed to be beamed live on television for the world to see, that is the match. It’s a pity broadcasters are holed up in Harare, where they were scheduled to beam live three matches from Friday to Sunday, yet the real action is miles away in Hwange.
Hwange lost the first leg in Harare 2-4, and a lot has been said about that game after Hwange coaches were assaulted by Dynamos marshals and did not sit on the bench to do their job on that afternoon. The matter is still up for deliberation in the Commercial Court of Arbitration after Dynamos won their Appeal against a replay. However, unless Hwange pay the required fees for the case to be heard by the Arbitration Court, estimated to be around $7 000, Dynamos will hold on to the points.
They clash at the Colliery at a time when Hwange must throw everything they have into the game. They don’t have to produce a Monomotapa performance against Highlanders to appease another title chasing side, no. They have to pull out a Houdini Act to try and wriggle their way out of the grip of relegation. Highlanders fans will of course celebrate a Hwange win, but it will also mean a lot for Hwange, as they are fifth from the bottom of the table and any drop of points will leave them in a very unpleasant position. So the fight tomorrow is for their own survival, not for academic purposes like the Monomotapa trouncing of Bosso.
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