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INEVITABLY, the two beautiful moments of the biggest Super Diski showdown last weekend between resurgent hosts Kaizer Chiefs and African champions Mamelodi Sundowns were as is always the case in such matches scripted by football magicians from this side of the Limpopo.
Considering this explosive battle, under the lights of the FNB Stadium, featured players from not less than half-a-dozen nationalities — from Brazil, Venezuela, Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Zambia and Zimbabwe — the fact that it needed two of our boys to provide the lasting images to this spectacular show was refreshing.
The two magical moments came five minutes either side of the half hour mark, on a night of raw passion in the stands and a high-stakes confrontation on the field, with the boys from Zimbabwe lighting the blue torch paper.
With 25 minutes having been chewed by this compelling conflict, pregnant with both aristocracy and fireworks enough to have produced energy, without the aid of Eskom, to power this calabash of a stadium, Khama Billiat raced into acres of open space on the right channel to try and feed off a superb long pass from the excellent Hlompo Kekana.
The first touch was a beauty, the little magician removing the venom which the ball still carried, with a skill only those whose feet are blessed with such cooling systems can provide, made even more outrageous by the fact that his eyes had been transfixed on the ball now taking its path down back from its aerial mission and in that single movement having the ability to caress it to his left as he cut inside without breaking stride.
In an instant, defender Lorenzo Gordinho, who until then had the benefit of following the full length of the ball’s flight after it left Kekana’s boot, was eliminated as a direct barrier as a pocket of space opened on the inside and Billiat for all the injuries he has suffered of late till had the confidence to pull the trigger.
The ball kissed a part of the defender, desperate to close that window Khamaldinho had opened, and goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, having already committed himself to his left to repel the danger was left exposed by the deflection as the ball arrowed home for an opening goal that was the work of art more representative of Sundowns’ nickname than the club’s gold-and-blue kit.
A few months ago, this goal would have marked the beginning of the collapse of a Chiefs’ side whose soul was being tormented by internal battles, including a constituency among the fans which didn’t like Steve Komphela, which accused their coach of being the worst gaffer to be tasked with taking charge of their beloved Amakhosi.
But things have changed now and, rather than collapse, Chiefs found a way to fight back and 10 minutes after that setback, they hit back — thanks of course to the contribution of another Zimbabwean now beginning to provide justification as to why Bobby was right to get him.
When Edmore Chirambadare poached possession down the right channel, where he remains more effective despite his reliance on his left foot with his right virtually reduced to a walking, or running aid he appeared cornered with two Sundowns defenders defending a small pocket of space close to the corner flag.
But, somehow, which is what made his run into that cul-de-sac even more impressive, his nimble feet found a way to free him from that bondage and, crucially, ensure the ball didn’t run out of play and just like that, he had created a huge hole down the right side and threaded the ball into the path of Bernard Parker who finished with aplomb for an equaliser to suit the occasion.
Oh, by the way, the night was spoiled — for some of us who had been seduced to be spectators of this showdown by its promise of fireworks and purity that we had seen in that first half — by that shambolic own goal by Ivorian defender Bangaly Soumahoro, beating his Zambian ‘keeper counterpart with a back pass from hell to give Chiefs their victory.
WHY DO OUR BOYS HAVE TO DO TWICE AS MUCH TO GET DUE RECOGNITION IN MZANSI?
I took considerable time to read a lot of reports from our colleagues in South Africa about that big match and, sadly, I didn’t find one report that appeared to give Chirambadare due praise for the way his significant contribution, built on a move that was rich in both wizardry and excellence of execution, played a defining role in the outcome of this big match.
The fact that his waltz down that right side of the left channel of that Sundowns defence and to still have the presence of mind to find his partner in Parker and lay the ball into his path for the crucial equaliser, had a huge bearing in the eventual outcome of a match that could be very decisive in the outcome of this league championship race.
That, in this moment of excellence, Chirambadare transformed himself from a player who has been ridiculed all season — as another cheap import from Zimbabwe where they say Bobby Motaung pays for one player and gets an extra one for free as a present for splashing his father’s money on footballers from his country — into a ballerina, a football’s version of a beautiful ballet dancer.
The very hostile media outlets that had dismissed Chirambadare as not only hopeless, but certainly useless, found it difficult to swallow the reality that this boy, the one they have taken turns to batter with comments pregnant with both negativity that bordered on insults, could produce a golden moment like this one.
Even in the post-goal celebrations, as Parker wheels away to celebrate his strike, laid for him on the plate, in trademark fashion, one gets a feeling — in that Chiefs’ camp — there isn’t an appreciation of Chirambadare’s contribution to that goal, he is left isolated, as if he doesn’t belong to the family, while everyone rushes to embrace the goal-scorer.
Of course, in this brutal game, it’s the one who turns the ball home who matters because that is the end product of everything that they put into their training sessions and it’s goals that win matches, win championships, and Parker’s goal — to his eternal credit — wasn’t an ordinary strike, but a well-executed goal by the leader of the Amakhosi attack.
But what struck me was the isolation of Chirambadare from the party, as the celebrations exploded under those lights at the FNB Stadium, and I got a feeling he even for a second was left confused, wandering if his teammates had not seen what he had done, the difficulty of executing that move, eliminating those Sundowns defenders in that corner, creating that pocket of space in the danger area and finding Parker with a weighted pass. And, it’s in that moment that I told myself that it’s a shame that our boys have to do twice as much, when it comes to Super Diski, for them to get the appreciation their talent deserve and also the respect that their spirited shifts in the trenches, for the cause of their clubs, should always merit.
Some will say, but you’re being hypocritical Robson, you becoming a shameless analyst who quickly forgets what happened yesterday, where were you when the very same people you are now criticising were fêting Khama Billiat like a king only a few months ago, honouring him as the Footballer of the Season, Midfielder of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season?
Yes, I understand that argument, I buy that narrative, but didn’t Khama do twice as much to get his individual prizes of excellence, which he clearly deserved by a mile?
And, if you don’t buy that, why then do our colleagues at Kick-Off, the main football magazine in South Africa, seemingly retreat from their position taken just a few months ago, when they showered him with praise for being the Kick-Off Footballer of the Season, to put Billiat on number 11 — nine places below Ugandan goalkeeper Denis Onyango — in their report about the best foreign players who have made the biggest impact in Super Diski in the past 20 years?
Have they suddenly forgotten that this is the same ‘keeper who on July 8, 2010 was released by SuperSport United, who felt he wasn’t good enough for them anymore, and did not have any takers — among the heavyweight football clubs of South Africa — he ended up being signed by modest team Mpumalanga Black Aces?
And even after he was signed by Sundowns in 2011, didn’t Onyango end up being loaned to Bidvest Wits in August 2013 before returning to the Brazilians where, even on the basis of last season’s performance, wasn’t even named among the three players short-listed for the Footballer of the Season, which was won by Billiat, who beat Kekana and Keegan Dolly?
How then does Onyango qualify, in Kick-Off’s assessment, to be the second best foreigner to have played in the South African Premiership in the past 20 years and Knowledge Musona ends up being ranked number six and Billiat ends up being ranked number 11 behind Patrick Mabedi of Malawi?
Onyango’s supporters will say he was voted the best player plying his trade on the African continent, last year, in a poll where Billiat came second, but we know this poll was, of course, manipulated by those CAF leaders — who felt that anything that glorified Southern Africa at a time of a rebellion to oust Issa Hayatou sparked by the region’s football leaders was bad for the long-serving African football boss.
But that is something I can tolerate.
What I can’t understand is this obsession that I pick among some of the fans in South Africa and some of the narrative that I pick among some of the pundits, which paints a picture that Zimbabwean footballers are not very good and crucially have to work twice as much as their colleagues for them to gain acceptance or respect.
IF MBESUMA IS NUMBER ONE, AS THEY SAY, WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT SUPER DISKI?
Even my colleague at The Sunday Mail, Mako “Gold” Mutimukulu, turned his missiles at Brian Mathe, accusing the man who analyses Super Diski on SuperSport as having a brutal agenda to portray Chirambadare as a hopeless footballer who simply can’t make the grade at Kaizer Chiefs, while others, who do less than what this forward does, get away with little criticism.
Yes, Gold, you never hear them say Lewis Macha, the Zambian striker who arrived at Chiefs at the same time as Chirambadare, but has clearly failed to make an impression, to such an extent he has disappeared from the radar, is bad while all the brutality is reserved for our boy even when he is doing very well.
For goodness sake, even Parker, who is the leader of that Chiefs attack, has struggled to take his goal tally into double figures of late and when he went to FC Twente in the Netherlands he failed to score in 17 appearances and, after being loaned to Greek side Panserraikos, he scored just one goal in 12 appearances.
Kick-Off, on their list of the best imports in Super Diski in the past 20 years, named Collins Mbesuma as their number one for the way he exploded on the scene in the Chiefs colours and scored lots of goals for the Amakhosi.
They put Musona on number six, Billiat on number 11, Benjani on number 12, Nengomasha on number 15, Nyandoro on number 16 and Gilbert Mushangazhike on number 17. Fair and fine!
But why is that the same Mbesuma terribly failed to make the cut at English club Portsmouth, whom he joined at the age of 21 amid high expectations, while Benjani — whom they placed at number 12 – didn’t only make an impression at the same club they even composed a special song for him, but ended up being sold to a bigger and better club, Manchester City?
Check the Portsmouth fans’ official boards, which are available on line, and you will see that Mbesuma regularly features among the players they consider to be the worst signings by the club in its history.
He played only four games at Pompey and failed to score a goal and his tally of games in his three-year adventure Europe, which included loan spells in Portugal at Maritimo and Bursaspor in Turkey, was 33 games played and only seven goals scored before he returned to the comfort, of course, of Super Diski.
Now, if the player that you say was the best of the lot, in the last 20 years, can have such miserable statistics when Benjani, whom you place at number 12 and Musona, whom you place at number six, have gone on to make bigger impressions in Europe, what message are you sending across?
But, maybe, we shouldn’t be surprised by all this. Especially if we take into account that coach Stuart Baxter, who in his last spell at Chiefs won the league championship, only lasted just two games in Turkey before he was dismissed and, just like Mbesuma before him, has retreated to the comfort zone of Super Diski where he is, you guessed it right, being hailed as a master tactician and could soon be unveiled as the new Bafana Bafana coach.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rooneyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
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