Sundaymail EditorOvidy Karuru 18area.coms
GREETINGS Zimbabwe.
My name is Ovidy Karuru and I am humbled to be given a chance to write this love letter just to say thank you for your support during the just ended Cosafa tournament.
First things first, let me point out that I was the co-captain of the Warriors at Cosafa along with Ocean Mushure even though I wore the armband in every match we played in.
The plan was to take turns to wear the armband with Mushure, but after we won the first match with myself wearing the armband my co-captain asked me to continue wearing it.
“Ndiwe une lucky Ovidy, ramba uchipfeka (You are the one Ovidy with all the luck Ovidy, keep on wearing it),” said Mushure before the game against Madagascar.
So I continued to wear the armband but the truth is both myself and Ocean were the leaders of the team, hence you saw us lifting the trophy together.
And that was one of the proudest moments of my career; lifting a trophy in national team colours is something I always dreamt of and it came true in South Africa last weekend.
But then again, it was never about Ovidy – it was about the national team.
We had a group of players who were hungry for success and we were united from day one.
The first thing we did when we got into camp was to create a WhatsApp group so that even after training or dinner we would continue to communicate and get to know each other better.
In the Warriors you are bound to meet someone new at every camp so it’s very important to create chemistry as soon as possible so that when you are on the pitch you will be able to relate.
Under the guidance of Mhofu (Sunday Chidzambwa) and the rest of the technical team we managed to do that as soon as possible and that helped us win the Cosafa cup for a record fifth time.
Most people have been asking how I managed to play all those games without breaking down and my answer has been a very simple one.
If you are the captain, you lead from the front. Imagine how the other players would have reacted if I had said that I am tired?
After every game I took an ice bath just to quicken my recovery while the advice of the medical team also came in handy.
Was I disappointed not to win the player of the tournament award? No not at all.
At the end of the day it’s all about Zimbabwe and Knox Mutizwa had a good tournament also. In fact anyone from out team could have won that award, we were that good.
On my return from Cosafa I made it a point to visit Prophet Walter Magaya because he told me that we would bring the trophy back home even before we left for South Africa.
We had just played Yadah Stars in a friendly when the prophet came to me and said: “Muchadzoka netrophy, just believe.”
After we won I just felt it was proper for me to go there and say thank you.
Prophet Magaya is someone I have a close relationship with; I appreciate how much he loves football and pray that he will continue supporting the Warriors.
After the Cosafa tournament my name has been linked with several clubs but as far as I know I will be going back to Amazulu and if anything is to happen it will take place while I am at that club.
Before I go please allow me to say, “Go Warriors Go!”
The boys who are in Namibia deserve our support, they love Zimbabwe and I have no doubt that they will qualify for Chan.
Ovido exits the scene.
Ovidy Karuru is a Warriors player and can be contacted on his Facebook page Karuru Ovidy or Twitter @OvyKays
Online Reporter