Mugove Chigada-Zimpapers Sports Hub
FARAI Madhanhanga’s journey through the furnace may best explain why he remains one of the fiercest defensive midfielders in the Castle Lager Premiership.
The Ngezi Platinum star, who has scored seven goals and provided four assists this season, is one of the reasons Madamburo have defied the odds in a campaign in which they were expected to struggle as a result of a transfer ban.
His has been a long journey that has taken him to many local clubs, including former champions FC Platinum.
In summary, he enjoyed a successful stint locally, broke into the South African league, before bouncing back to rewrite the story. It is as if he never left.
“It’s been a long journey, and I feel I’m even getting better with each season,” Madhanhanga exclusively told Zimpapers Sports Hub.
Perhaps one of his worst moments playing in South Africa best explains how resilient a player he has been.
The 2019-20 stint at Bidvest was all fun, but the other chapter at TTM, which later became Marumo Gallants, was hell. A mixed bag, as it were.
“In football there are a lot of ups and downs. Bidvest was great and I was welcomed well,” said Madhanhanga.
“But at TTM, it was tough. When the team was sold to be Marumo Gallants, challenges started. You play in the first eleven, a new coach comes, you can’t even play at training.
“The new coach doesn’t want you, the owners try to intervene but they are limited in terms of how they can interfere. When I look back at the period, the sleepless nights, the agony, it feels like it was yesterday.”
This was a player who had moved from FC Platinum after winning the league title under coach Norman Mapeza.
His abilities pointed to a player with nothing left to prove in the local league.
Those who knew him from Mbare believed he was the finest to come out of the suburb among his generation, and that South Africa would just be a stepping stone.
They were wrong.
It was after the nightmare in South Africa that the midfielder opted to return home.
“You come back and you have to gather your confidence again. You even start to doubt if you are a good player at all. It’s not easy being a foreign-based player,” said Madhanhanga.
It has taken the player at least four years to open up on his harrowing experiences.
And he says he has taken it all in and redirected it to produce his best.
It is a classic tale of exile and return, an Odyssean arc from home, to trial abroad, and back again to Ithaca, hardened rather than diminished.
Gifted with the ability to use both feet in equal measure, on his day the Ngezi Platinum player can be a menace, breaking down attacks and invading the final third to add numbers.
But in truth, his claim to fame was a photograph taken while on the bench at Monoz as a teenager, sleeping in the dugout.
It trended and he was subject to mockery.
What will not be forgotten, however, is that he woke from that slumber to live the dream, from obscurity to bustling pursuit.
Local clubs like Harare City and FC Platinum scrambled for his signature and eventually Bidvest came calling.
His latest chapter is fascinating.
“What made us win games at Ngezi Platinum when we are in a transfer ban was hard work,” he said.
“I want to thank the coach (Kumbirai Mutiwekuziva) because he gave us confidence . . . We were united and even today, we love each other.
“I think that played a big role. The coach gave us a lot of free role, and it enables us to take matters into our own hands.
“When you are working in a good environment, you produce results.”
Ngezi Platinum are currently third on the log on 52 points, 11 behind log leaders Hardrock and nine behind Scottland with just four games before the season ends.
“I think the turning point was the Hardrock game . . . we were leading and we should have tried to manage the game. We allowed them back into the game. If we had taken those points, it could be different now.”
Asked how he balances defending and managing to score often, he said: “It is not easy to play deep and then get the opportunity to score.
“You play defensive link and you have to help the central defenders. It is the support of the other teammates that make things possible.”
The gruelling battles he has been involved in this season show he is a player with a lot to offer.
With his contract coming to an end, his next move is anyone’s guess.
