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Charles Mabika-Special Correspondent
FORMER Warriors legendary skipper, Stanford “Stix” Mutizwa, is undoubtedly one of the finest dribblers ever produced in the local game.
He belongs to a rare breed of tricky artists like George “Mastermind” Shaya, Freddy “Dusty King” Gotora, James “Topsy” Robertson, Ekshape “EC” Chemwayi, Langston “Zata” Govinder, Mike “Mabhurukwa” Abrahams, Moses “Bambo’’ Chunga, Peter Ndlovu, Vitalis “Digital” Takawira, Maxmillion “Boy” Ndlovu, Denver “Mundikumbuke” Mukamba and Silas “Solar” Songani.
“Stix’’ is also widely regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders produced in the land.
He earned his long-standing nickname from his former colleagues at Mbare’s Chirodzo Primary School because of the way the ball seemed to “stick” to his legs once he gained possession and weaved his way effortlessly past his markers.
The former midfield maestro’s heydays in the top-flight were in the colours of giants CAPS United and Black Rhinos.
But who does he regard as his finest partner in the middle of the park during his illustrious career? In a recent interview with The Herald ahead of the resumption of the Castle Lager Premiership football this coming weekend, Mutizwa, who is now senior assistant coach to the army team’s technical side’s head coach, Herbert “Jompano” Maruwa, immediately flashed a wide smile and chuckle to that question before revealing his answer.
“I was lucky to have played with highly skillful and industrious players who made my forays up field much easier,” said Mutizwa.
“That’s a very difficult question . . . but I would have to say it’s got to be the late Joel “Jubilee” Shambo who I played with at Makepekepe,” he revealed.
“But like I said, I had many able colleagues in the middle of the park who could do almost anything with the ball.
“My journey in senior football started in the late 1970s at Third Division side, Glens Strikers, where our head coach, the late Ashton “Papa” Nyazika, who favoured a 4-3-3 formation, and my partners in that awesome side were Dixon “Dhickela” Ngwanya and Archieford “Chehuchi” Chimutanda. “Oh, my oh my . . . what a delightful time we had in the middle of the park as we tore at defences at will. Ngwanya was the workhorse while Archie and I would exchange passes willy-nilly to set up our forwards Raphael “Tsano” Beira, Wilson “Widzo” Ncube and Kumbi “Rabhz” Mutimba.
“When Nyazika left Glens Strikers, he took me, together with Ngwanya, and central defenders William “Weeds” Chikauro and Joseph “Bhofani” Chingwalu to CAPS United.
“Again, Papa continued with his favourite 4-3-3 formation and I had two brilliant and industrious team-mates in midfield — Shambo and Ngwanya.
“After some time, Nyazika switched to a 4-2-4 formation because of the tenacity of the pharmaceutical side’s front line which had Shacky “Mr Goals” Tauro, Peter “Petso” Augustinho and Oliver “Ollie” Chidemo, Tobias Moyo and later Friday “Breakdown” Phiri.
“Unfortunately that change of formation cost Ngwanya his starting place in the team’s line-up and he had to contend with cameo appearances from then on,” lamented the former Warriors captain.
“However, that made our attacking combinations from midfield to the strike-force the best in the land during that time. It was during that period when the “telepathic understanding” between me and Shambo burst into life.
“We engineered many goals for our forwards and also enjoyed scoring as well. During a game, Joe would somehow know where I was without even looking and I would do the same as we strode forward. I actually remember a league match in the early 80s against Rio Tinto at Rufaro where we chested the ball towards one another a total of four times, without it touching the floor before I eventually slid it onto the turf for Shacky (Tauro) to score past their ‘keeper, Raphael Phiri.”
That brilliant partnership was once described by the first Warriors head coach, John “JR” Rugg, who was also the Rio Tinto mentor, as “a marriage made in heaven” after a Warriors international friendly match against Mauritius where Mutizwa and Shambo both starred for the hosts at Rufaro in a 4-1 triumph.
At a post-match Press conference, the tall Scotsman had the house in stitches after he claimed that Mutizwa and Shambo could still pass the ball to each other even if they were blindfolded.
“Rugg was real motivator and hard-working mentor who contributed a lot to my game’s rise together with Nyazika, of course,’’ recalled “Stix’’. The late Rhinos creative midfielder, Hamid “Muzukuru” Dhana, was also singled out by Mutizwa as a special midfield partner during their colourful stay at Chauya Chipembere.
“With Dhana, you had to be very alert to receive his pass because you really never knew what he was going to do next . . . after turning twice in different directions with the ball, would he turn once again or push it sideways to you? He was so tricky and ingenious and I really enjoyed partnering him after I moved to Rhinos following my departure from CAPS United. He would also crack jokes during a game and always had us in stitches, especially after we conjured a goal for Maronga “The Bomber” Nyangela, Stanley “Sinyo” Ndunduma or Jerry “Dzungu” Chidawa.”
The Rhinos assistant coach also mentioned his enjoyable midfield stints in the Warriors side with other midfield stalwarts like Max “Shaluza” Tshuma, David “Yogi” Mandigora, Moses “Bambo” Chunga and Willard “MaWii” Mashinkila-Khumalo.
“I also used to marvel at midfield combinations like Dynamos’ duo of Shaw “Kojak” Handriade and Kuda “Kuda Boy” Muchemeyi and the Highlanders double partnership of Tymon “White Horse” Mabaleka and Stan “Gates” Nyika; the Black Aces’ unbelievable combination of David “Naughty Flea” Muchineripi and Rodrick “Flying Doctor” Muganhiri as well the Saints’ sparkling combination of Tshuma and Willaim “Wiriri” Sibanda,” he revealed.
“Having someone who understands you, particularly in midfield, is so vital for a football team and makes your strikers to easily adapt in creating space for themselves where you can then thread passes to them for booming finishes. I hope that at Rhinos this season we will be able to achieve these kind of partnerships with talented players like Brighton “Messi” Christopher, Nesbert Padzarondora, Gracious Muleya, Ashwad Phiri, Joe Nyabinde, Tawanda Chisi and Danzel Mutudza,” Mutizwa said.
And who does he rank as the finest midfielder ever in world football?
Again, the wide smile and chuckle before he retorted: “For me, it will always be French superstar Zinedine “Zizou” Zidane.”
Online Reporter