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A Week’, which captures the defining moments in world sport during the past seven days.
This week’s menu featured Novak Djokovic winning his maiden Wimbledon title after a superb show against Rafael Nadal, some of the best moments from the grueling Tour de France and, of course, the feel-good story of the homeless Canterbury Crusaders winning a place in rugby’s Super 15 Cup final.
Even for some of us, who would still embrace a triumph by a South African team as a story that needs to be celebrated because it features our neighbour, even in this era of xenophobia, it was difficult not to be touched by the feel-good story of the Crusaders.
Pitted against the Western Stormers, the Cape Town franchise who have been one of the top teams in this year’s Super 15 battles, the Crusaders had all odds stacked against them in a semi-final contest right in the Newlands fortress of their opponents.
That the Crusaders were playing away from home, mirrored a season of bravery, in which this group of rugby players have been forced to play eight of their regular home season matches, and a play-off tie, away from their home ground in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.
Since a deadly earthquake shattered Christchurch in February, the Crusaders were left homeless after their stadium was destroyed, and – as they fought in the trenches of Super 15 – they transformed themselves into a shining symbol of the resilience of their city.
One hundred and eighty one people were killed in the earthquake and, since then, the Crusaders have been forced to play their home matches in places like Twickenham in London and Timaru on New Zealand’s South Island.
But the Crusaders are so determined to play their Super XV home matches in Christchurch next year that they have announced they will fast-track the building of a new stadium.
Each victory brought hope for a city battered by the cruelty of nature, in a country where rugby is a religion, and on a rainswept day in Cape Town last weekend, the Crusaders shined brightly and ended South Africa’s hopes of a Super 15 triumph.
“I am really proud of what the team achieved tonight. We decided after the earthquakes to stand up for the people at home and that is what we did here,” said All Blacks and Crusaders captain and flank Richie McCaw.
“All the travel we have had to do was not fun – but you recover and gear up for a supreme effort come each match day. It was a great team effort with special praise for our tight five.”
The New Zealand media heaped praise on the Crusaders on Monday for their spirited efforts to get to a final, against all the odds, in a season where they have been nomads.
“The greatest Crusade rumbles on,” said the New Zealand Herald.
“(This) professional side will win the Super 15 and bolster a quake-ravaged city,” sports columnist Chris Rattue wrote.
Marc Hinton, of the Fairfax Media, said the Crusaders’ triumph in the Super 15 final would be a bigger achievement, for New Zealand against the background the earthquake that destroyed their city, than the All Blacks winning the Rugby World Cup on home soil this year.
“It’s difficult to see how the All Blacks winning a World Cup by never leaving home soil could be comparable to what the Crusaders would achieve if they can just summon one more big effort against the Reds in
Saturday’s Super Rugby final in Brisbane,” wrote Hinton.
“It would be that special. That significant.”
So today the Crusaders will make one final leap, in the hope of crowning it all with victory in the Super 15 final, when they take on the Queensland Reds before a sellout 52 500 capacity crowd, the biggest crowd to watch a provincial rugby team in Australia.
It will eclipse the 49 327 fans who paid to watch New South Wales play the All Blacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1907.
Such has been the interest in the match, which would probably be over by the time you are reading this newspaper given the different time zones between Zimbabwe and Australia, that 25 000 general seating tickets, which were released on Wednesday, were all taken within 45 minutes.
Given what the Crusaders have done this season, playing with pride for themselves and their battered city in the year that New Zealand will host the Rugby World Cup, it’s easy for a neutral like me to support their cause and that is why I will be happy for them to win.
What A Week
Let’s suppose if ZBC, just like SuperSport, also ran a highlight package along the same lines as ‘What A Week’, on their national television channel, what would they be showing now?
The Sables writing another beautiful chapter in their revival story with a deserved win over Uganda at Hartsfield as they marched relentlessly, like the Crusaders in the Super 15, closer to success in the Victoria Cup?
Harare opening its arms to embrace a special guest when Fifa president Sepp Blatter and his high-powered crew arrived on an historic visit to this country on Monday that charmed local football and left it with a spring in its step?
The ageless Murape Murape showing his true value to a Dynamos team, he supported and played for since he was a kid growing up in Zengeza in Chitungwiza, by putting the final touch to the best move we have seen from the Glamour Boys all season in a 1-0 win over a plucky Chicken Inn?
Or that five-minute cameo appearance by teenage talent, Tichaona Mabvura, at Rufaro on Wednesday where – even in that short time – he still did enough to justify why there has suddenly been Great Expectations of a genius being unearthed in the Glamour Boys’ ranks?
Maybe giant Mighty Warriors’ forward Rufaro Machingura scoring five goals, as she ripped the heart out of a poor Malawi side, as the national women’s team cruised to an 8-2 demolition of their opponents in a match that was graced by Blatter himself?
Or the heroic performance of goalkeeper Onai Chingawo, who saved a decisive penalty in regulation time, and then stopped two more in the penalty shootout, as the Mighty Warriors edged Tanzania 4-2, in the
lottery, to move into the final of the Cosafa Women Championships?
You have to give it to the Mighty Warriors, if not for their stunning resurgence in the past year, then for the way they have played with grace during this Cosafa Women Championships.
Watching them play against Malawi on Monday made me feel so proud of this team because there was life in their performance, there were goals in their show, there was artistry in their midfield, there was solidity in their defence and Machingura, the gentle giant, made it all look so easy with her goal harvest.
The girls passed the ball around, pushed it into spaces with aplomb, supported the girl on the ball, created space for the person on the ball, played with co-ordination and, during a period of about 15 minutes in the second half, they strung together more passes than what we saw, in 90 minutes, during the Harare Derby.
And, when their character was examined, in the match against Tanzania, they answered their critics with a determined show, where they played a person short for 45 minutes, and – in the penalty shootout that followed – they had the composure to shoot with accuracy.
Seeing the girls absorb all that pressure, in that shootout, and not only score but do it with grace, was a victory for their brand and you can tell that the Mighty Warriors are winning more fans, with each passing week, across the divide in this country.
You can’t help but fall in love with them because there is a beauty attached to their game, there is life in their movement, there is courage in their approach and they play for their nation, usually coming out tops, and this is one of those teams, just like the Warriors and the Sables of today, that you can proudly call my national team.
But the Mighty Warriors need to be reminded that history remembers the champions and there is no honour in coming second best.
Yes, it would be unfair to expect them to compete favourably against a Banyana Banyana side that has developed, during all the years that the Mighty Warriors were in isolation, and are one of the best four national women football teams in Africa.
But this is not about settling into the brideswoman’s role all the time, when it comes to competitions in Southern Africa, with the South Africans ruling the roost most of the time.
Our quest, just like Alex Ferguson when he took over at Manchester United in 1986, would be to knock Banyana Banyana off their perch, the way good, old Fergie knocked Liverpool off their perch.
We should strive to be the best and we should never plunge into battles, against Banyana Banyana, carrying this psychological burden that we are going to lose the match.
Yes, we are improving, but our target must be to conquer the region first and that means knocking Banyana Banyana off their perch.
The fans who will come to Rufaro today will be expecting no less than a big victory for the Mighty Warriors because there is growing belief, throughout the country, that the gap between Banyana Banyana and our girls has narrowed down so much that it is even insignificant.
We have the home advantage, we are comfortable on the artificial surface and we now should complete the mission and nothing, get it from me girls and listen carefully, tastes better than beating South Africa in any sporting discipline and that is why the Dynamos win over an Orlando Pirates developmental side was cheered wildly in this country.
If the girls want a shining example of a group of athletes, who have defied the odds and gone all the way, then the feel-good story of the Crusaders and their incredible journey from an earthquake-ravaged city to the final of the Super 15 rugby tournament, which is on today, should be an inspiration.
Thank You, Madam Gumbo
It would be a fraud of gigantic proportions for us to discuss the Mighty Warriors’ resurgence without giving special credit to Mavis Gumbo, the leader of women’s football in the country, for the way she has spearheaded the revival of the team.
At around this time, last year, Gumbo had just been in power for four months and the Mighty Warriors, as a brand, lived just in name.
But, in a period of about a year, Gumbo has made a huge difference to the brand and, pouring all her energy into her constituency, she has given the players reason to believe that they could once again play football with a smile on their faces.
The structures, which lay dormant just a few months ago, are now being revived and there is a national women’s league around the country with teams performing week in and week out.
Crucially, the Mighty Warriors have been given all the support and we now have a cast of new players, who were not prominent when the team went into hibernation, who have taken over the show and are driving their brand to greatness.
Skipper Nomsa “Boyz” Moyo, who would have been the first player on the team sheet two years ago, has now lost her place in the starting XI and can only play in games where the result might not be entirely relevant to their quest to progress to the next result.
What has impressed me most about Mavis Gumbo is her drive to be there for her constituency all the time and her refusal to be buried by the seemingly impossible odds that she was facing.
Now, just over a year into office, the team that Zimbabwe had almost forgotten, has been revived and is about to be crowned Southern African champions, if only they can beat Banyana Banyana.
They have already qualified for the All-Africa Games in Mozambique in September and, at this rate, the sky is the limit for this squad of players who now believe that they have a certain quality good enough to take them to another level.
Sepp Blatter was convinced that Mavis is doing the right thing and he poured a lot of praise on this dynamic administrator and I just hope that she will not lose the passion, to keep working for her constituency, now that the system appears to be functional.
This should not be the end but the beginning of the end of mediocrity and we should always try to be better than what we were when we played the last game and, even if they win the Cosafa Women
Championships, the Mighty Warriors should know that a lot still needs to be done.
Yes, even if we lose today, we should not lose our focus because the world is bigger than winning or losing the Cosafa Women Championship and we should keep working on our structures so that one day, not in the distant future, we can play at the World Cup just like Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.
What is important is to get the system right and, the good thing about women’s football in this country, is that it is in very good hands.
If Mavis still has any doubts about the power of hope, then she should borrow a leaf from the Crusaders, who rose from the ruins of their quake-devastated city to make the final of the Super 15 rugby final.
Spare A Thought For The Young Warriors
It’s a measure of how successful the Mighty Warriors have been that, in the week they have played in the Cosafa Women Championships, they have ruthlessly dominated all the space in the media that you will be forgiven if you have forgotten that the Young Warriors will play against South Africa tomorrow.
Virtually all the headlines on the back pages have been about the Mighty Warriors and you have to search carefully, in the newspapers, to find something about the Young Warriors.
Well, for those who still care, the Young Warriors – also known as the Golden Generation – were beaten 0-2 by their South African counterparts in the first leg of their All-Africa Games final qualifier in Mzansi.
After impressive performances against Botswana and Zambia, the Young Warriors were flat against the South Africans and, considering their poor show that day, many are still wondering how they came out of it with just a 0-2 defeat.
A number of reasons have been forwarded for what led to the Young Warriors to lose the plot that day in South Africa and the delegation leader, Fungai Chihuri, believes his boys were blown off course by the influence of agents who invaded their hotel, on the eve of the match, promising heaven and earth.
I always felt this was a tricky assignment for the Young Warriors, certainly not because of the superiority of their opponents but because, unlike the South Africans, our boys were being weighed down by excess baggage that made it virtually impossible to play your best football.
Against Botswana and Zambia they played with freedom because they knew that Big Brother wasn’t watching and, maybe, among all the boys who played in those matches, noone was interested in a move to either Gaborone or Lusaka to play their club football.
So, we saw the real Young Warriors and their performance in Lusaka, against Zambia, was brilliant and their show in Harare, against Botswana, was first class.
But South Africa presented a different challenge because it brought the grand stage, which most of the boys had been looking for, knowing that Jomo Sono was watching, that Mamelodi Sundowns were watching, that Bobby Motaung was watching and that a number of Super Diski teams were watching.
Now, these are the same guys who have seen Nyasha Mushekwi, Lionel Mtizwa and Method Mwanjali having their life changing, overnight, after they crossed the Limpopo and started to play for the Super Diski teams.
These are the guys who saw Mushekwi come home in his new Jeep and Mtizwa driving a brand new Nissan Navara and they also dream of such a transformation in their lives and they were so sure that a golden chance had just presented itself.
All they needed to do, to join Simba Sithole who had made the move in a R1,6 million deal, was for them to perform on that day.
So, our boys exerted pressure on themselves, believing that this was the be-all-and-end-all of their problems, and they were just 90 minutes away from becoming professionals in Super Diski who would soon be seen playing, live, on SuperSport 4.
Our boys were also under immense pressure, from the agents, who kept telling them that this was their big breakthrough.
Of course, a good player is a good player, and you expect him to rise to the occasion even when the odds are piled against him and we have already seen that from the Crusaders in Super 15 rugby this season.
But moments of truth need character and that was clearly lacking from our Young Warriors whose fragility had already been seen with their violent responses, when they felt that decisions were not going their side, in that match in Gaborone.
We lost two good players because of that, Archford Gutu and Denver Mukamba, and lost a third one, Devon Chafa, in South Africa.
Mentally, our boys were not ready for the double examination that came with the challenge of playing for their country and, at the same time, playing for their careers and they collapsed in Mzansi.
But what is good is that we know they can do far, far better than that and that is why there is hope for a better tomorrow when they host the South Africans at Rufaro.
You can feel that there is something special that is on the way and, if they can play half as well as they did in the second half against Botswana at Rufaro, then they can turn it around.
What is important, right now, is for them not to lose hope, and no team in the world this week gave a shining example of defying the odds like the Crusaders and, if the Canterbury side could rise from the remains of their earthquake stricken city to make the final of the Super 15, then why should our boys fail to overturn a 0-2 deficit?
Somehow, something keeps telling me that we haven’t had the last of the drama in this tie.
Changes, Changes And More Changes
So Kenny Mubaiwa, the Harare businessman who owns a hotel in Chitungwiza, is now the Dynamos chairman, after replacing Farai Munetsi, who lost the support of the majority of the directors to lead the Glamour Boys.
Well, I have seen a number of people coming in to be Dynamos chairman, in the past 20 years in this job, and leaving – some with their reputation tainted, a few with their reputation boosted and, very few, with their reputation intact.
So when Dynamos announce that they have changed their leadership, to me it’s no longer a big story, because it’s something that you expect to happen all the time and history has proved us right.
I believe Munetsi has done the best that he could have done, in a challenging environment where his dreams to turn the club into a company were frustrated by the board, and it’s hard to judge the true value of a person when he is operating in such an environment.
For continuity’s sake, I believe it would have made sense for Munetsi to continue but, once he had lost the support of all but one or two of the directors, the game was on and he had to leave.
Richard Chiminya came out fighting last week, hitting out at his fellow directors who wanted to effect the changes, and – to a lot of people – what he was saying made sense because Dynamos has changed executive members now and again but very little has come out of that.
But that is the danger of democracy.
Once Chiminya and his fellow directors decided to go for a vote, to decide the fate of the leadership that was under Munetsi, it was only natural that the outcome of the vote, no matter its flaws, be respected.
For Chiminya to try and turn around, and behave as if Dynamos had suddenly turned into his tuckshop where he could make unilateral decisions, related to the make-up of who is in charge and who is not, was not only regrettable but an insult to the institution of directors as we know them in the real world.
You can’t go into a vote, if you are a director, feeling that only your opinion is what matters because, once that is the case, then there is absolutely no need for the vote to be taken in the first place.
For Chiminya to try and bend the rules was tantamount to urinating on the same system that elbowed out Tawanda Murerekwa, when the directors voted that they no longer wanted him as the secretary-general, and the same system that kicked out Oliver Manyau.
Trying to change the system, simply because the result had come out differently, was tantamount to saying that Murerekwa was wrongly booted out and should be allowed to continue in his old role as secretary-general.
What Chiminya should have done, if he felt so strongly about the decision to remove Munetsi, was to ask for the board to sit again, at a meeting duly convened, where he could try and preach his gospel and all the virtues of keeping the chairman in place.
But, I get this feeling that these changes are not addressing the real issues at Dynamos because they are simply changing the personnel while the rotten system remains intact.
The challenge should be to get Dynamos breathing again, so that the team could make full use of its brand power, and that requires more effort than just changing the executive.
What’s Next For Peter Ndlovu?
So the relationship between King Peter and Twalumba Holdings has gone sour and the Flying Elephant’s homecoming show is turning into a nightmare rather than a celebration?
There are so many stories flying around right now, including one that the Flying Elephant was recently paid his pension, or something like that, for his stint at Coventry City.
What can’t be disputed is that Peter, given his profile, doesn’t need all this and it would be a sad day when the greatest footballer we have seen in this country, since the turn of the millennium, winds up his career with court appearances rather than a glut of goals.
King Peter has to decide what he wants to do right now and it’s been clear, for a while now, that his swansong season, playing on the domestic front, has not gone according to plan.
He has made very little impact and it’s fair to say that the season, now on the halfway stage, has passed by as if Peter was not part of it.
And, as fate might have it, Black Mambas have started to win matches, without the towering presence of King Peter in their dressing room.
Agent Sawu and Adam Ndlovu have already gone into coaching and Norman Mapeza, who captained the Warriors at the turn of the millennium before Peter took over and led us to the Nations Cup in Egypt and Tunisia, is now coaching the Warriors.
I believe there should always be a role for King Peter in local football, and I think he can help the Warriors in one way or the other, but it’s clear this player thing isn’t working.
We all love King Peter because he was the first to show us that, contrary to what we used to believe, Elephants could Fly.
It’s because of our love for him that we are worried about his future.
My Favourite Local Team
Last week I posted a message on my Facebook page that generated quite a lot of interest.
The message read: “Okay folks, I have decided, at long last, to reveal the identity of the local team that I support. But before I do that, I just want to hear from you guys, which local team do you think I support.”
It created a flood of replies and here are some of the responses:
Tendai Mukwati – Even ukanyora whatever Rob, uri muDeMbare, no two ways about that.
Louis Makomeke – Mukoma Robbo ndeveHwange.
Ernest Imbayarwo – Robbie you support team with good soccer, good administration, well organised set-up and I noted this – UK – Man U, Spain – Barca, Zim – CAPS United, SA – Orlando Pirates. Conclusion is Man U and CAPS United. DeMbare unoida zvako but pa last.
Takura Manda – Mukoma Rob zviri pachena muri muDembare akazara.
Mukuze Sheunopa – Chikwata.
Cephas Zuze – DeMbare ndiyo yenyu bhudhi Robson.
Isaac Farai Hwerekwere – Makepekepe, The Green Machine.
Alfred Mutendera – Robbo, uchatinyepera hako, but uri mu DeMbare.
Tapiwa Zambu Kundoro – DeMbare through and through baba.
Maxwell Divva Chinyemba – Ku Shabanie hatikudi.
Liberty Mushunje – It’s always Dynamos.
Lazzie Hacha – The truth is we won’t know which team you support and you will never reveal it to us. That might cause irreparable damage. Urikuda kungotinzwa chete
Edmore Chivizhe – Sekerera hako Robbo, all these guys giving you teams. Your job won’t allow you to say that unless you say you love Gunners or Monoz or those small teams. Never, in a thousand years, will you mention Dynamos, Kepekepe or Bosso, na sekuru vangu vari pachuru.
Tunga Captain Madzivanzira – You are the Warriors’ number one supporter!
Sol Mate Chero – Yawada hazvina basa.
Gladmore Mapundu – The way I see it, with your career, you won’t say DeMbare or Kepekepe, even though I have this gut feeling that you belong to the blue half of the capital.
Tonhodzayi Matanhire – You are a DeMbare sympathiser, ndoyako, but? unogona kuhwanda wena and that’s why you see it’s hard to link you with DeMbare.
Tafadzwa Goko – I think paMbare wena
Brighton Musonza – Robson, I don’t think there is a need for you to reveal that Dynamos FC is your local club because everyone knows that.
Lovemore Marange – Chegutu Pirates
Perfect Makumbe – Warriors Suporter.
Lovemore Guta – Bweraufe (Falcon Gold)
Mark Ganje – Inga Sylvester Stallone (Rambo) proudly supports Fulham, newe u should support DeMbare full time.
Farai Tereraushe – Robson, everyone wants you to support the same team as they support. Uri pa tight.
Shepherd Shonhiwa – DeMbare, any prizes?
Funnywell Muodza – You are a DeMbare fan, no doubt about that, when you write about DeMbare problems I can feel the emotions behind. Even when teams like CAPS and Bosso are facing the same challenges, you always write more about DeMbare problems because zvino kubatabata pamwoyo.
Evans Mudima – Obviously Dynamos
Edmore Chivizhe – Highfield United.
Blessing Mbwanda – CAPS United ndiyo yako mudhara Chicharito.
Stewart Makota – A DeMbare fanatic of course. Which local team can guys like you support besides DYNAMOS?
Kevin Maeka – We all know that you are DeMbare, Robbie.
Blessing Mbwanda – Godfather munoshupa kuti tinyatsoziva between DeMbare and FekeFeke ndipo pane yako but kutsamwa kwaunomboita uchinyora ne zveDhingozi kana ichitamba nyemba, aaahhh, uri DeMbare chete.
Wellington Magaya – Robson “DeMbare” Sharuko. Unoida Dembare full stop. Kungodai unoona waisa zi DOT re Dembare ku back page. In short, hanti Herald is the official magazine reDeMbare.
James Lennon – I think pakati peZiscosteel and Eiffel Flats, though dzisiri muPremiership medu.
Onias Tahwa – Latest, takamutora from DeMbare ave we Kugona Kunenge Kudada.
Blessing Taremekedzwa – Robbo uriwe Tatenda yepaChiutsi and Eiffel Flats (Flatso).
Kasaru Charles – I know by the way you report kuti you are biased towards the Warriors.
Abson Zvobgo – Highlanders
Ernest Mpofu Dzvene – Kiglon ne muromo and DeMbare by birth.
Liberty Dhobhi – Ah, Sharuko MuDembare uyu, muneiko pa weekend?
Baba Rhah – Chegutu Pirates I know
Brighton Chingoma – Being a journalist of repute, but being Zimbo, you are tempted to be Dingoz for the whole seven million reasons. But reputable birds fly together and so it pains me to say that you maybe
Kepekepe because I’m DeMbare and can’t ignore the astute way CAPS conduct themselves. Icho!!
Milton Nyamadzawo – Yematomati (Kadoma United).
Edmore Kajayi – You know there is only one team and that’s DeMbare and so you are a DeMbare fan.
Courage Chimbiro – Sharuko uri muDeMbare and that’s why you have a close relationship with Chunga because you always sympathise with Dynamos and this week you didn’t write about the best thing ever happened at CAPS this year, that is the departure of this bogus Dienamos’ ambassador to CAPS because maybe wakarwadziwa kuti your spy has been booted out before accomplishing his mission of reducing CAPS to a boozers side.
Robert Wilson – BOSSOLONA
Noel Gwese – Bwera ufe Falcon Gold
Stephen Mwoyoweshumba – Dynamos but Twine (Phiri), (Farai) Jere and Bambo’s friend.
Saniford Suntile – Pane anga asingazvizivi kuti uri muKepeKepe here?
Thomas Sean Kapende – KepeKepe
Tongai Ngondonga – The sky is blue
Michael Ngwerume – KepeKepe mudhara ndiyo yamunofamba nayo
Simbarashe Roy Keane Maputsa – Bla Robbo, just like me, supports Eiffel Flats FC, CAPS United, Man Utd ne tumwe tuma team twe muma mines. Robbo has and will never support this poor team called DeMbare.
Joke Of The Week
Multichoice have just sent a message to all the Dstv subscribers that, from this coming English football season, Liverpool’s matches will not be screened on SuperSport because the channel is reserved for champions.
All Liverpool fans, who haven’t felt what it means to be league champions in the era of the English Premiership, will now see their club’s matches on such channels like Discovery and History.
Come on Mighty Warriors !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
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