Tadious Manyepo-Zimpapers Sports Hub
HERENTALS College striker Blessing Majarira has had several fine spells in his storied football career, including playing and scoring for the Warriors when he was still in Division One, but his sweetest 24 hours came recently.
Majarira, a familiar face in the Students changing room, was part of the squad that bundled out Hardrock from the Munhumutapa Cup at Chahwanda last Sunday.
That penalty shootout win secured Herentals College a path into the semi-final of the richest cup in Africa, with the Eagles now guaranteed to walk away $96 000 richer, should they bow out in the last four where they will face Scottland.
But their ambitions, which are quite realistic, are to ultimately land the trophy along with the record $1m jackpot payout, whose ticket also seals their participation in the CAF Confederation Cup next year.
Majarira was not that wild in his celebration as were his team-mates, who included his younger brother Brighton, when the Students elbowed Hardrock out.
His excitement in that atmosphere was measured and fitting for a man who has a double job.
Strikingly, just 24 hours earlier, Majarira had stood in the Herentals Queens Under-19s dugout at Gwanzura as their head coach in the quarter-final of the same tournament.
Herentals Queens Juniors are a new team competing in the Northern Region Women’s Soccer League, with Majarira, a holder of a CAF D coaching licence, their manager.
On Saturday last week at 11:00, the Mutasa-born striker was at times animated in that technical area, passing instructions as his team played Black Mambas Queens.
After 90 minutes of intense see-saw action, the scoreboard read 1-1 and it was Majarira’s girls who eventually claimed victory in the shootout to secure themselves a place in the Munhumutapa Cup semi-finals.
While Majarira’s players headed home, he headed straight to Kwekwe to link up with his team-mates preparing for the Hardrock game.
And 24 hours later, he was again immersed in a penalty shootout victory, but this time as a player, unlike the day before in Highfield.
Majarira could not help, but shed tears of joy when speaking to Zimpapers Sports Hub.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Majarira.
“This feat is somehow strange for me but I would like to thank God for this.
“I can’t imagine that on Saturday I was being held aloft by my Herentals Queens Juniors players after we beat Black Mambas on penalties in the Munhumutapa Cup quarter-finals and on Sunday I was one of the players to hoist our coach Celestino Benza after we had beaten Hardrock in the Munhumutapa Cup quarter-finals.
“Being involved in both victories but in different capacities feels exciting for me. I am really happy but I want to win both to then say, well I am done. But even so, I am very happy.”
Yet Majarira, at 37, was not registered as a player by Herentals in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League at the beginning of the season.
A founding member and captain of the team since around 2014, Majarira is the all-time leading scorer for the club with 102 goals in more than 300 games spanning 11 years.
And somehow the team decided to transition him into a coach at the start of the year.
First, he was helping out in fitness duties across the teams including the Premier Soccer League side, Herentals Juniors in Harare Province Division 2B, Zimbabwe Women’s Premier Soccer League champions Herentals Queens and Herentals Queens Juniors.
Majarira actually won his first silverware as a member of the technical team when, as an assistant coach to Simba Dedza, he helped Herentals Queens land the Independence Trophy in Maphisa in April.
Then the team administration decided to appoint him the head coach for the Herentals Queens Juniors.
The team have been a revelation in the Northern Region Women’s Soccer League and the Munhumutapa Cup.
With Herentals College relying more on Ralph Kawondera, who is ordinarily a defender, in the PSL, Benza decided to register Majarira for the second half of the season, especially after the forward showed he still has it in the routine intra-Herentals social games, commonly known as Zvihuta.
Still, he retained his full responsibility with the Herentals Queens Juniors.
“I am really enjoying my moment as both a coach and a player,” added Majarira.
“Sometimes I miss games as a player to concentrate with my Herentals Queens Juniors and vice versa.
“But all the same, I am very happy.”
Benza said Majarira is a unique character who deserves the best.
“Since I started coaching Bule I think more than a decade ago, he was always a leader,” said Benza.
