Marinica’s science gamble backfires. . .Maswanhise shines too late

Robson Sharuko, Metros Editor

TWO schoolboy blunders sealed our fate on Monday night, but when a comprehensive analysis is made of our latest Afcon failure, one name will loom large in the Zimbabwean conversation – Tawanda Maswanhise.

He arrived in the Warriors camp as one of our red-hot forwards – expected to be among the first names on Mario Marinica’s team sheet, a man whose reputation was exploding in Scotland.

Having turned 23 last month, Maswanhise came to Morocco on a mission to show the world that his excellent performances in the Scottish Premiership were no fluke. This was a talent crying out for a big stage.

Instead, the flawed science Mario and his backroom staff used to pick players for the first two Afcon games somehow kept Maswanhise on the bench – unused and, frankly, wasted. Players, including some who had never featured for the Warriors in a competitive match, were thrown into the deep end and, as expected, failed to make any impression.

Amid a national outcry, Mario was forced to throw Maswanhise into the fold in the final group game against Bafana Bafana and, in just 90 minutes, he showed us why everyone was clamouring for his inclusion.

It was a special individual performance, brimming with pace and trickery, swagger in every stride, a touch of class in every move and a potent threat in every run. This was probably the finest individual display by a Warriors forward since Peter Ndlovu scored twice, in a losing cause, as Zimbabwe went down 3-5 to Cameroon in an eight-goal thriller at the 2004 Afcon finals in Tunisia.

Maswanhise scored one of the goals of the tournament and had a big hand in the second. On each occasion, he dragged his team back into the game and gave them a fighting chance for the win they needed to make history. He also struck the upright with keeper Ronwen Williams stranded and missed a connection with a swing after thrusting himself into a scoring position in the heart of the Bafana Bafana defence.

His first goal was a work of art. When he gained possession, the Bafana Bafana wall provided a hurdle few forwards would dare to penetrate alone. But that’s what Maswanhise did. His brilliance carved open the defence, a body swerve leaving the highly-rated Mbekezile Mbokazi – who has just sealed a deal to join Chicago Fire where he will face Lionel Messi in the MLS – a heap of human flesh on the ground. The finish was special too, hit with both power and precision, and the Warriors were back in the game.

The second goal was a beauty as well. The pass from midfield was precise, his pace made it a no-contest with the defender, and though his shot was blocked by the keeper, it had enough venom to crash into a defender’s body and loop into the net.

That he ended up on the losing side was because of chaos in the defence, which gifted Bafana Bafana two goals. It’s a shame that Afcon will lose such a beautiful gift at such an early stage.

And that brings in the big questions:

· Why did Mario keep him on the bench in the first two games against Egypt and Angola?
· Which science – which now looks like witchcraft – told him that players like Washington Navaya and Ishmael Wadi were better than Maswanhise?

· Why didn’t Mario throw Maswanhise in when Knowledge Musona was injured against Angola, instead of Wadi, and give him the 32 minutes which the CAPS United forward was granted?

· How can a player, who is one of the best forwards in the Scottish Premiership, a far better league than the domestic Premiership, be left on the bench while local boys get Mario’s confidence to start and come in as substitutes?

· How can a footballer who has played for former English champions Leicester City be deemed inferior to one playing for TelOne in the domestic Premiership?

Maswanhise finds himself among the five leading goal-scorers in the Scottish Premiership, with his eight goals only second to the ten scored by Lawrence Shankland for leaders Hearts. Shankland has 1 600 minutes of action;

Maswanhise has just 1  009. The Zimbabwean forward has scored against championship leaders Hearts and provided an assist against serial champions Celtic.

It’s very likely he would have scored against the Pharaohs of Egypt. He is too quick, and given a chance like the one Navaya fluffed because of his slow reaction, Maswanhise would have buried it. It’s also very likely he would have scored against Angola, and the Warriors would, at least, have gone into the final match against Bafana Bafana with four points – which virtually guarantees progress into the Round of 16.

Somehow, with such a gem in his folder, Mario decided to rely on his flawed science, which now looks like witchcraft, and by the time he decided to throw the star boy into the fray, the damage had been done.

Only God knows what this generation of Warriors would have achieved if Mario had made the right call on this special talent and let him express himself.