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Tadious Manyepo in BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa
RICHARD Hachiro was not part of the original Warriors squad for the 2026 World Cup double-header qualifiers against Lesotho and South Africa.
He didn’t travel with the rest of the players to South Africa, where they started camp five days before their first outing against Lesotho last Friday.
Having been named in the team to play in the upcoming Cosafa tournament in Durban, the Ngezi Platinum player was bracing for that challenge.
Despite the withdrawal of Brendan Galloway from the team due to an injury, coach Jairos Tapera made it clear that they would not call up any replacement for the England-based defender.
But two days before the Warriors battled with Lesotho at Orlando Stadium, Tapera sat down with his technical team, including veteran gaffer Sunday “Mhofu” Chidzambwa.
A decision to call up Hachiro was reached and the midfielder arrived on the eve of the match against the Crocodiles, which Zimbabwe would lose 2-0.
The 26-year-old wasn’t on the Warriors team sheet and sat on the terraces as captain Marshal Munetsi and Andy Rinomhota struggled to stamp their authority in the middle of the park.
With Chidzambwa, a known admirer of the pint-sized player, and his Ngezi Platinum coach Takesure Chiragwi also in the technical team, it was clear that he would start against South Africa.
So he did.
Pivoting for Munetsi and Rinomhota, Hachiro’s specific task was to frustrate Bafana Bafana mainstay Themba “Mshishi” Zwane.
And each time Zwane had the ball on his feet, Hachiro made it difficult for him to do what he mostly does.
Thrice in the first half, Hachiro retrieved the ball from Zwane and engineered attacks of his own for the team, although none was fully utilised by his colleagues playing high up the field.
It was in the opening half that the former Herentals man frustrated the South Africans with his game intelligence, getting on top of the normally creative Bafana Bafana midfielders.
He managed to block three goal-bound shots at the D-arch and for once his efforts seemed to be taking the Warriors through.
Ably complemented by his ultra-defensive colleagues, he did see the team going to the break with the scoreboard reading 1-1.
But once South Africa shifted into cruise gears, Hachiro’s mates in the middle of the park disappeared and left him to run in every space that needed attention.
Zwane did come to life.
But he never did what he normally does. Without the tight monitoring by Hachiro, it could have been worse for the Warriors who lost 3-1 at Free State Stadium on Tuesday night.
But with most of the donkey work left to be done by him, Hachiro eventually fizzled out, with elementary blunders at the back not helping matters either.
“When I was called to travel to South Africa, I was a bit shocked. I knew I was in the team for the Cosafa tournament, not the World Cup qualifiers,” he said.
“But as someone who had previously represented the national team about 15 times before, I knew I had to be pre-pared.
“But honestly, I was a bit afraid because I had never played at this level before, as I have always played at lower levels like COSAFA and CHAN.
“So when I was named in the first eleven, I was like: “Well, me?”
“But then I just went out there to help my country and fight for the badge.
“I knew Zwane is a good player and I just had to put in the work and try to make it difficult for him and his colleagues to play.
“The idea was to win. Unfortunately, things didn’t go our way. We have to fight another day.”
Zimbabwe’s legends based in South Africa, led by former Warriors captain Peter Ndlovu, cheered from the stands after they were brought to Free State by Zororo-Phumulani.
Zimbabwe sit at the base of the six-team Group C table with only two points from four games. However, they are only five points behind surprise leaders Rwanda with six games still to play.
Online Reporter