admin
Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS FC defender Andrew Mbeba is a frustrated man.
He is pained at the reality of him reaching his prime, but failing to make an international break.
When he first stepped into the field, playing for the Bosso senior team, aged 18, the young Mbeba saw himself going places.
Years down the line, the Mzilikazi-bred footie is stuck at Amahlolanyama.
While he beats himself up, he still maintains his cool as he believes his dream was in part shattered by the Fifa imposed ban on Zimbabwean football.
His name had become a regular in the senior national team. To this date, he has four appearances with the Warriors.
The 2019 Premier Soccer League Rookie of the Year also once led the Young Warriors to the final of the Cosafa Championship that was held in Zambia in 2018.
He is fully aware of the effects the ban has on his advancement as a player.
Though the Fifa ban allows player movement, Mbeba knows international football enhances the chances of playing abroad.
“It has affected us as young players who have vision and ambition to play outside the country. For instance there were Under-23 and 20 competitions that we could have participated in but we couldn’t.
“Personally, I had been getting senior national team call ups and had worked hard to attain that. If you play in the national team that is where you get recognition so it has deeply affected us not to have the national team playing,” said Mbeba
This season, under Baltemar Brito, the central defender has mostly been deployed as a right-back, a role he has excelled in.
“When you are a footballer, it doesn’t mean you have to be confined to one position. You have to adapt to the role that you would have been assigned to on a particular day. I believe I can play any position that would have been assigned to me,” said Mbeba.
The Fifa ban also bars local football clubs from representing Zimbabwe in continental competitions such as the Caf Champions League and the Caf Confederations Cup.
— @innocentskizoe
Online Reporter