Is Mutizwa the real deal?

AT the age of 22, Castle Lager Premier Soccer League top goal-scorer Knox Mutizwa has enough time to perfect his craft and evolve into a more refined forward.

Mutizwa may have shown glimpses of being a top striker, but there is always the possibility that he might lose his bearings and join a growing list of young Zimbabwean footballers who flattered only to deceive.

Until this season, there was little evidence in the Premiership of Mutizwa’s proficiency in front of goal.

He had floated on the fringes at Highlanders over the past two seasons – a merely promising youngster occasionally deployed wide on the wing, impressing in fits and struggling for a foothold in the team.

Triangle coach Kevin Kaindu, who gave Mutizwa his Premiership break during his time at Highlanders, recalls the flak he got from fans as he persisted with the then novice.

Kaindu said: “I remember some fans saying he is Kaindu’s son when I kept playing him. They didn’t see the promise in him.”

Today though, Mutizwa, never mind his height, is standing tall. After missing a few matches at the start of the campaign following some injuries in a domestic mishap, he was handed a striking role by then coach Bongani Mafu upon recovering.

He never looked back, scoring six goals in five matches in a run which boosted his self-belief and cemented his place in the Bosso starting X1.

As the season ends, Mutizwa has 14 league goals to his name and can look ahead to the African Nations Championships (Chan) in January as a perfect stage to further enhance his burgeoning reputation.

One factor which makes Mutizwa such a fascinating prospect is his ability to impress even when he’s not scoring.

In fact, it was his intelligent running off the ball which persuaded the then newly appointed Highlanders coach Mafu that he could be relied upon to lead the line.

“We were trying to figure out which players were best suited to play upfront during pre-season and Mutizwa immediately impressed me. He is very good at running into those spaces between the defenders and he times his runs perfectly,” Mafu told Goal.

“So, we played him there in couple of friendlies against lower league sides and was scoring goals. And as you know, strikers are ‘confidence beings’ – the more they get things right, the more confident they become.”

Bosso juniors coach Ali “Baba” Dube for his part is not surprised at Mutizwa’s emergence as a goal-scorer of note in the top-flight. He was scoring for fun back in the team’s juniors after joining in from Railstars.

“We played him as a twin striker in the Under-18s, where he partnered Arnold Ndiweni and it was clear that he was a future star because he displayed all the qualities you would expect in a top striker.

“He has a good first touch and he can take on defenders. He is also very good in air, he has scored with some excellent headers this season. He just needs to remain disciplined and keep a cool head. I am sure he will go far,” Dube said.

Having established himself in the national consciousness, Mutizwa’s immediate challenge could be to show Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa that he has the heart to make an impression on the international stage when the Chan roars into life in Rwanda next month.

He impressed as Zimbabwe dispatched Lesotho 4-2 on aggregate in the tournament’s final qualifier.

Surprisingly called up belatedly and only as a replacement for Talent Chawapiwa, Mutizwa went on to play a starring role in the first leg, where he had a hand in each of Zimbabwe’s three goals.

Kaindu is convinced there is more to come.

“If he stays focused and does not grow big-headed, just watch and see where he is headed,” he concluded. – Goal.com.