Vusumuzi Dube
THE history of women’s football would be incomplete without the mention of former New Orleans and Mighty Warriors goalkeeper Siduduziwe Nkomo.
She distinguished herself in 1995 as Zimbabwe’s number one, a position she held for both club and country for almost a decade.
She had charisma, agility, command, posture and good handling skills and a brilliant ball distribution sense for a lady as the game was still at its infancy in Zimbabwe.
She was part of the second generation of the women’s national senior team which raised the bar for the local game. Nkomo was born in Bulawayo on 16 May 1982 to Njabulo Nkomo and Thokozani Dube.
She attended Gampu Primary School in Mpopoma before moving to Entumbane High School where her fortunes in sport blossomed.
“I started my soccer career in 1995 at Gugulethu under the late Haverson Masilela and businesswoman Tryphine Nhliziyo at Gugulethu before it reverted to New Orleans.
Masilela identified me while I was at Entumbane and invited me to the club where I found the likes of Ruth Banda, Thenjiwe Dube, Simangaliso Moyo and Fungai Nyamutukwa.
“Coincidentally I was called up to the national team the very first year as the era marked the arrival of a second generation of Mighty Warriors.
We were curtain raisers in a match between Bafana Bafana and the Netherlands at the FNB Stadium in South Africa. I was chosen as the first choice goalkeeper,” said Nkomo whose New Orleans travelled to Swaziland that year and for the next seven years through Masilela’s network.
Nkomo’s outstanding performances saw her keep the goalkeeper’s starting slot for the next seven years before the emergency of Daisy Mukwena who gave her a good run for her talent at New Orleans and national team.
As she continued shining in goal, in 1999 she was part of the New Orleans side that travelled to Aberdeen for the annual youth festival which was previously attended by Highlanders FC and a City Select.
Nkomo played and picked up silver medals in the 2000 and 2004 Cosafa Women’s Championships in both.
“I am happy to have been part of the Mighty Warriors team that took part in the Abuja All Africa Games in 2003. It was an honour guarding goals for my country at all levels.
I am also proud to have won so many tournaments with New Orleans from 1996 to about 2009,” said Nkomo.
An Orlando Pirates fanatic who now resides in South Africa with three kids, the eldest being 21, she says all three are into football and are scrambling to fit into her shoes.
“My most memorable match was against South Africa. I had a great game and another when we played them in the Second African Championships in which we lost 2-1 to them.
We were up against razor sharp Portia Modise and Veronica Phewa who played professional football abroad,” said Nkomo.
With New Orleans on the road to either Harare, Hwange, Swaziland and South Africa, Nkomo says she enjoyed the travels and learnt a lot from them.
“I enjoyed travelling to Swaziland something that had become more like a habit as we did so every year, we made friends and loved that country. I enjoyed the Scotland trip too, that was the best of my football experiences.
I had a fright as we flew for 55 minutes from Amsterdam to Scotland,” said Nkomo.
Modise and Phewa with her left foot were her most difficulty opponents.
Other players that gave her a scare in goal were Mercy Akide, Perpetua Nkocha, Maureen Madu and Nkenchi from Nigeria.
Nkomo said the best moments for her were at club level where for years they were unbeaten against local and foreign clubs.
She recalls playing against Lesotho, Namibia, Ethiopia, Tanzania Botswana and Swaziland up to 2004 when she decided to retire from the game.
A bubble character by nature, Nkomo said she was comfortable with Thenjiwe Dube, Sithethelelwe Sibanda, Thandekile Mathobela, Lilian Makore, Rosemary Mugadza and Margaret in defence at both club and national level.
She said she is pleased with women’s football progression.
“I am happy with the growth of the sport from our time, it is now a big employer. I am proud of the Girl Child that she is now able to be a professional able to play abroad which was not the case during our days,” she said from her Johannesburg base.
“Nomsa Moyo, Nokuthula Ndlovu, Fungai Nyamutukwa, Talent Zulu, Yesmore Mutero, Portia Maguhudze and Mavis were outstanding midfielders for me.
Coaches, Brian Moyo, Pardon ‘Mjita’, Bennedict Moyo, Vernom Boaz, Peter Nkomo, Rosemary, Lovejoy and Stix M’tizwa all had a positive influence in my career, They made me the player I got to be,” said Nkomo.
Nkomo says Precious Mpala and Ruth Banda legendary Esrom Nyandoro’s wife were the best strikers in women’s football during her time.
Nkomo said her best Mighty Warriors X1 would be like: Siduduziwe Nkomo, Thandekile Mathobela, Talent Zulu, Rosemary Mugadza, Sithethelelwe ‘Kwinji 15’ Sibanda, Melody Musasa, Nomsa Moyo, Yesmore Mutero, Ruth Banda-Nyandoro, Precious ‘Gringo’ Mpala. -@lovdube
Online Reporter