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really scaled the heights for a striker who openly admits he could have done more for his country.
It was September 10, 2010, and after having spent June and July being seduced by the artists of Spanish football on their way to World Cup glory, just across the border, we were back to domestic affairs and the familiar battles of the Nations Cup.
The frustration among the fans, stemming from a depressing week dominated by the Tom Saintfiet/Norman Mapeza battles, was clearly evident and when the players failed to make the flying start needed to cool the emotions, it became evident it could all explode quickly. Madinda didn’t even move from his seat, amid a web of conspiracy theories that he had been targeted by a hostile section of the crowd for humiliation should be emerge from the dug-out, and as Mapeza barked countless orders, you got this sinking feeling it was all being lost in the confusion.
You could feel sorry for the Warriors, who clearly felt unwanted by their own supporters, after a week in which they had spent wondering who would coach them rather than preparing for the game, and their lifeless performance was not a shocker in the circumstances.
That they didn’t force a corner kick against Cape Verde, until deep into time added on just before the break, told the story of a team that was clearly in distress.
Benjani eventually departed the stage, for the last time in the colours of his nation, in the 65th minute.
As Benjani waved goodbye to international football, we also changed our home and moved back to where it had all started in 1980, Rufaro, and the response from the fans was incredible as 40 000 packed the old ground for the game against Mali.
We still had just two points then, from a possible nine, and morale was very low but the fans made a fantastic response, to the call to make one last stand for their country, and estimates show that 40 000 more people might have been left stranded outside Rufaro that day.
Ovidy Karuru ran the show like the conductor of an orchestra, Knowledge Musona scored the goals that made all the difference, Tinashe Nengomasha was a raging bull in central midfield, Khama
Billiat exploded on the scene, Willard Katsande changed the engine room and made the killer pass to Ovidy and we bounced back with a win.
The beautiful images that emerged at Rufaro that afternoon, as Musona’s penalty found its target to release emotions that had earlier been shattered by his failure to convert at the first attempt, needed to be seen to be believed and, on that lovely day, we rejoiced in our identity as Zimbabweans.
In our Warriors, we found all the good things that unite us as a people, which makes us such a special nation, and as strangers embraced and danced in that moment of glory, we all realised what we missed when we left madness to trample national interests ahead of that Cape Verde game.
Good, old, dear Rufaro felt really like the home that it has always been and, on the field where Misheck Chidzambwa had triumphantly lifted the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in 1985 after a 2-0 win over Kenya, Method Mwanjali and his troops were going on a lap of honour thanking the crowd for their support. So we banished Cape Verde from the memory and swallowed the joy of success, the players and the fans became the bonded unit that they should always be, Benjani even traveled from England to support the boys from a VIP seat and, as he left the stadium, he was mobbed by screaming fans.
As I watched it all unfold, capturing the highlights and finding time to release the emotions by hugging Mapeza for a job well done, I realised the power of success, the strength of unity and the unique never-say-die spirit of Zimbabweans.
A Return To The National Sports Stadium
A week from now, we will plunge back into the Nations Cup battles but, this time, not in the arena of our dear, old Rufaro but back in the spacious theatre of a National Sports Stadium that still brings back bitter memories of the way it all went horribly wrong against Cape Verde.
The Zifa board met last week and decided that the big game should be at the giant stadium because they expect 60 000 fans, and Rufaro proved to be a nightmare, in terms of planning, the last time we hosted Mali there and thousands of supporters were turned away.
Zifa have also added US$2 on top of each of the cheapest ticket, which are bought by the majority of our fans, and supporters will now pay US$5, to get into the stadium, instead of the US$3 they paid at Rufaro.
I have no problem, certainly, with Zifa charging US$100 for the VIP Enclosure because my concern is on the real fans, the guys who buy the cheapest tickets, because these are the people who have always been there for this team in good and bad times.
You understand their feelings when they say that US$5 is a bit on the tough side for most of them and, coupled with the fact that the game has been moved from a central venue to a stadium that requires extra costs for transport requirements, it’s a bit difficult for them to balance the books.
A day after the Warriors’ game, schools will open for the final term and that also brings with it costs and, considering the income levels in this country, that US$2 difference, is certainly huge.
What needs to be realised is that we are all caught up, Zifa included, between choosing to land on a hard place or a rock.
Yes, as much as the fans have a right to feel betrayed by the increase in the gate charges, it’s also true that Zifa have to take care of some huge operational costs, including having the Warriors in camp for a week, taking care of the accommodation costs of the Liberians, match fees for the referees and match fees for our players and technical staff.
Every Warrior being flown from his base, be it in Sudan, France, Germany you name it, comes with a cost that has to be borne by the association and there will also be the cost of flying them back to their bases when the game is over on Sunday.
Then, unless we forget, there will be that trans-continental trip to Cape Verde, a few weeks after Sunday’s game, for the final show and it comes with huge costs related to travel, daily allowances for the players, match fees and what could be put on the table to inspire them.
I was checking with my records and realised that although Safa are a wealthy organisation with numerous sponsors, and Bafana Bafana have their special sponsors, the cheapest cost of watching South Africa’s home game in the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers is R50.
Given the prevailing exchange rate, it means that watching the Warriors, at US$5 for the cheapest ticket next Sunday, will still be cheaper than watching Bafana Bafana in their current qualifying campaign.
Interestingly, when Safa revised their ticket prices, the wealthy association said the time had come for their fans to also play a part in supporting the Bafana Bafana brand.
Now, this is an organisation that gets funding from scores of sponsors, which gets television rights from SABC and the others, which has under its wings the seventh richest football league in the world and which got a huge share of revenue from Fifa for a successful hosting of the 2010 World Cup.
It’s an organisation that can provide an environment for Benni McCarthy to come back and play his football at home, pocketing a cool R300 000 a month, but – despite its visible riches – it took a stance that fans have to play a small part in helping fund Bafana Bafana and revised its ticket prices.
When you consider that Zifa have no sponsor, and don’t tell me that it’s because they are bad given I feel it’s all about a corporate world that has a negative attitude when it comes to funding local football, and look into their plight, in comparison with Safa, you can understand where they are coming from.
When you consider that for the Warriors to fly to Mali, Cuthebrt Dube had to lodge the title deeds of his Harare home for the organisation to secure a loan with a bank to fund the trip, which loan has not yet been repaid with the deeds still with the bank, you can understand the plight that the association is in.
Their only window, in terms of generating funds, is when the Warriors play and even though there was a capacity crowd at Rufaro last time around, Zifa ran losses because the amount realised from the gates could not offset the costs related to organising the game.
It’s against that background that I feel we have to sympathise with them on this one, both on the decision to move the game to the giant stadium on the basis of expecting more fans, and the slightly higher cost of a ticket to get into the ground for that match.
If we paid US$10 for the cheapest ticket, to watch an exhibition game against Brazil that had no consequence to our qualification to the World Cup, and filled the National Sports Stadium to capacity, why can’t we do the same, for half the price, now that we are chasing a dream?
What is the point of winning on Sunday if we will fail to travel to Cape Verde because the books couldn’t balance and there was nothing left to foot the bill of the flight?
Lessons From The Cape Verde Curse
In the week leading to the big game against Liberia, let’s pick lessons from Cape Verde and we will all refuse to be drawn into spending the next seven days tearing each other apart about the wrongs of moving the game to the giant stadium and loading US$2 on each of the cheapest ticket.
Let’s ensure that what dominates our week is how our preparations are going, the expectations from the players, the expectations from the coaches, the expectations from the fans and how our boys can win the big game.
Let’s give football a chance because there is a very thin line that divides madness and soberness in this highly volatile game and, if we allow our emotions to override the significance of the mission, it could go horribly wrong very quickly. Norman would not be in charge of the Warriors today if it wasn’t for the waves of goodwill that came from the fans who felt that, of the candidates who were in the hat for the job, he appeared to be the best choice. One of the enduring images of this campaign will always be that picture of Norman, holding a Zimbabwe flag that had been handed to him by a delirious fan, on a victory lap around Rufaro after the win over Mali, with screaming fans on cloud nine in the stands.
This week Norman came out publicly to say that while his recommendations to Zifa were that the game should be played at Rufaro, he will respect their decision to move it to the National Sports Stadium.
That should be the basis of our interaction this coming week, using the tempo set by the coach, were respect should be what prevails and, even if we might not agree with the authorities’ decision to move the game to the giant stadium and the gate charges effected, let’s understand it rather than fight it.
If we do that we will see that we will avoid the curse of Cape Verde and the united Warriors will certainly be stronger than the Liberians while if we allow our emotions to rule us, we run the risk of opening old wounds and losing our focus.
Gunners At Lafarge
Cuthbert Chitima and his management team decided to host Dynamos at Lafarge tomorrow in a Premiership tie whose profile has been boosted by Dynamos’ storming return into the race for the title and Moses Chunga’s seven-match unbeaten run at Gunners. Chitima’s decision to keep the match in Mabvuku is a triumph for professionalism because switching it from there would have been a mockery, to the authorities at Lafarge, who gave his team a home to play football at concessionary rates.
I was speaking to Obert Chunga, the acting Gunners’ chairman, on Wednesday, and he revealed they don’t pay a levy to the owners of Lafarge from gate receipts but they instead pay a stipulated rental per month.
It means Gunners will probably get more, in revenue from gate receipts tomorrow just from 10 000 fans, than they would have banked from 15 000 fans at Rufaro where the Harare City Council gobbles 20 percent of gross gate-takings. That makes business sense and it should be a lesson for Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United, who spend the season generating salaries for council employees, from unrealistic gate levies, while very little goes into their coffers.
I was hoping that Twine Phiri or the Zifa bosses would use their meetings with Fifa to ask why clubs have to continue to pay 20 percent of gross gate-takings at Rufaro when the artificial surface was wholly funded by money from the world football governing body?
Fifa represents football and the money that it invested on the artificial surface at Rufaro was done on behalf of local clubs and you would think that would have ushered in a new partnership with the
Harare City Council given that football now has a share in the ground.
Motor Action left the circus, Gunners followed and it’s about time Dynamos and CAPS United walked the same path because, without them, Rufaro will be an empty shell and it’s high time the City Council treats them as partners rather than helpless tenants.
Why CAPS United Shouldn’t Fall
The Premiership log standings make sick reading if you are a CAPS United fan because, suddenly, the Green Machine is just five points off the last relegation slot occupied by Zimbabwe Saints.
But the good thing is that they are also just five points behind Hwange, who are in sixth place on the table, and 11 points behind Dynamos, who are in the race for the championship, with 27 points still to play for.
CAPS United know that it’s time to respond because this is a special franchise that the Premiership badly needs because football, without the Harare Derby, would be a big yawn.
I have faith in CAPS United’s ability to respond and I still feel they will survive the axe but my concern remains on the future of the club, especially given the way a section of its fans wants to shape the way it should be run, which has caused problems.
Dynamos changed coaches this season, but it didn’t come from the fans but the club’s leadership because, even after the draw against Black Mambas, the supporters didn’t try to harm Lloyd Mutasa, despite clear signs of their frustration.
CAPS United had 21 points when Bambo left and, in the last seven games, they have added just four points, out of 21, with a turnover of five coaches who have added their input into the team.
We can only wonder what could have been the story today had Bambo been given just a little bit more time because, given the way he started the season and what he has done at Gunners in the last seven games, you can’t dismiss the possibility that he could have been top of the table now.
Come on Green Machine!!!
Roaring Mighty Bulls
The champions have been showing us that their triumph last year, when they needed goal difference to beat Dynamos in the race, wasn’t a fluke and you have to give it to Eric Rosen for the professional way he has moulded this competitive team.
Solid in defence, effective in midfield and very potent in attack, the Mighty Bulls are the most balanced team in the Premiership and they are being rewarded for the tranquility in their camp.
Joey Antipas has continued to get better and better as a coach and his tag-team with the tried-and-tested David George is an awesome combination. I’m not so sure about FC Platinum right now because the pressure on them is too much and the two leading teams’ fixtures in Bulawayo this weekend could be key.
I have a feeling the Bulls will win this race but something tells me the football gods have been cruel on Dynamos in the past three years, where they have finished second all the time, and they could smile on the Glamour Boys this time around.
Daniel Muriri’s English
Premiership Gospel
- Manchester United is the type of student who jokes a lot in class but after exams will always be at the top.
- Arsenal is the type of student who keeps on failing exams but his dad will always tell him “my son, I am sure next time you will do well and pass.”
- Chelsea is that kid who is disillusioned at school and can’t achieve much because his rich father spoiled him and forced him join the school.
- Liverpool is that kid whose only pride in attending classes is because his grandfather used to be a very bright student at the same school.
- Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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