admin
The series were quite enjoyable and so was our own version of Rush Hour, directed by Rahman Gumbo, starring Khama Billiat and the band of Warriors as supporting acts.
The setting was at the ceremonial home of Zimbabwean football, Rufaro Stadium and the guest starring was the Angolan national team and what an exciting one-and-a-half hour film on Sunday.
After watching it, Zimbabwe’s most decorated Olympian, swimmer Kirsty Coventry, who was at the stadium, proudly told the world via twitter; “Zimbabwe beat Angola 3:1. A little relaxed in the second half but a great first half. The atmosphere was electric. Well done Warriors!”
The Warriors coach, Gumbo, affectionately known as Rush, had literally walked into Rufaro a dead man walking.
There he was after dropping one of the most talented midfielders in the country, yes one of the best in his generation, Ovidy Karuru, in what was viewed as controversial fashion after the player squandered a scoring opportunity in the game that was drawn away in Mozambique, and Gumbo quipped afterwards that he was going to kill him if he was a player for missing such an golden opportunity.
There was Rush walking into Rufaro without the prince of Zimbabwean football, striker Knowledge Musona, who remained holed up in Germany after a dramatic week in which it was announced that he would end his self imposed exile from the national team despite not getting a public apology from Zifa for tainting him with match-fixers, but he was not able to come because the invitation had been sent late, and in any case, he was injured.
There was Rush walking into Rufaro without combative midfielder Tinashe Nengomasha, who could not make it because Zifa bungled and did not send a release-request letter to his new club in South Africa, Bidvest Wits.
There was Rush, for the umpteenth time, walking into Rufaro without what we consider the cream of Zimbabwean football, with the majority ineligible for selection due to match-fixing allegations levelled against them. He did not have the luxury to call up Edward Sadomba, who is now considered one of the best strikers on African soil due to his exploits in Sudan and he was also not able to call Nyasha Mushekwi, whose stock continues to rise in South Africa and was close to getting a deal in Germany in recent weeks.
Going into the match, the former Eagles and Highlanders star player looked like some desperate athlete boxing outside his weight as Angola looked far too strong for the Warriors on paper. They had done better preparations than Zimbabwe and they had history to back them up as they have done well in international football of late.
Apart from the gate charges which were a bit on the high at $10 for the cheapest ticket, confidence was low among Zimbabweans going into the match and that partly contributed to the low turnout on Sunday.
While most of us were wondering if we could beat Angola and put one foot into South Africa for next year’s Afcon finals, Rush, his assistants Peter Ndlovu, David Mandigora and their players had a feeling that they would pull a shocker, and they did just that.
Before the game, Rush said he was confident that something good would come out of the players called into camp. He even told me that football is a funny game and no one is bigger than the team or the game itself. He once told me of a story of a player who was crowned Soccer Star of the Year in the mid-70s, and the following season the star was playing boozers football.
He told me that in as far as the Warriors needed Musona, the player also needed the Warriors because that was the right platform for him to show the world that he is a world class player. He said from experience, players who were not active for their national teams at the peak of their careers tended to lose value and fizzle out of the radar of heavyweights with each passing season. Moreso, big team scouts and European teams in general are not keen to sign a player who does not play for the national team, for whatever reason.
In the run up to the Angola game, Rush told the media that he realised the drive by fringe players in training and was convinced that their firepower will prove to be enough to beat the Black Antelopes.
And thank God, goals came from star performer Billiat, midfielder Archieford Gutu and an own-goal, which was the opener, when an Angolan defender turned into his own nets a Billiat free-kick in the first half, before the Angolans got a vital away goal in the second stanza.
Gumbo said the up-and-coming players were motivated by the fact that the game would provide them with a chance to impress the coaches and the nation at large and thereby command regular jerseys in the Warriors set up.
“We had problems with the players coming in late and others are no longer coming, but we have to do with what we have. The players in camp are very positive about everything. The attitude is good; they are looking forward to the game. The players, especially the locally-based ones, have shown me something: the hunger, the determination and their commitment is impressive. Here is a group of people who are hungry for success and people who are prepared to take the nation to the next level.
What we need is to be united as a nation. Every Zimbabwean should pull together and support this team. It’s no longer an individual team, but our team so let’s support each other. We have almost enough knowledge about them. We will work on their weaknesses and hopefully things will work out well,” said Gumbo in the build up to the game.
Assistant coach Peter Ndlovu, who led the team to their only two Africa Cup of Nations finals (2004-6) as a player, with Gumbo as assistant coach in the first tournament, also believed the team, could do the job.
“The players in camp are good enough. We have confidence in the boys that are here. We don’t care who is not here. We are on the verge now and as the technical team we have done our job to instill confidence in the team. If we qualify it will be a good thing for our CVs as coaches, but overall I’m looking at the achievement of the whole team,” said Ndlovu.
After a breath-taking Rush Hour, the Warriors will have themselves to blame if they fail to hold fort in the return leg in Angola to safeguard the two-goal cushion they have. But what we have to keep at the back of our minds is if the Warriors scored three goals in their own backyard, what can stop the Angolans from doing the same at home? And that is the mentality that the Angolans will carry into the decisive game and now the ball is in the Warriors’ court to give the nation another sequel, Rush Hour Two, before we join the best African football nations in Mzansi in January.
For comments and contributions, email [email protected]. You can follow this writer on Twitter and Facebook.
Online Reporter