Phiri hails Chipaz gesture

the field tomorrow when the Dream Team faces musicians in a charity match at Rufaro.
Besides the entertainment value and reuniting with his colleagues who made up the famous Dream Team of the ’90s, one of the major motivating factors for Phiri is the fact that part of the proceeds from the gate-takings will be channeled towards the development of junior football.
The other chunk will be donated to the upkeep of the late musician James Chimombe’s ailing son Freddy.
“This is a charity match and people should expect good football on Sunday (tomorrow). They must come in their numbers to watch their former stars and their favourite musicians in action,” said Phiri.
“But our desire as former players is to see the junior structures in place and being actively supported by Zifa and the corporate world because that is where the future of the nation lies.
“I am glad junior football will also benefit from this initiative and it’s time we all support the grassroots development. Talent needs nurturing and proper structures for development.
“We have teams participating in the Under-17 Championships but there is no mechanism to monitor their progress from that level upwards and we end up losing talented players somewhere along the way.
“In the end, the senior national team does not benefit anything. In most cases we assemble teams when there is a commitment and afterwards nobody thinks about the future.
“This happens up to the senior level. We were all surprised by the rise of the (Knowledge) Musonas and Khama Billiats and other players who made it in the senior team but you cannot really trace their development (in the structures) from the juniors up the ladder.
“I wouldn’t want to compare today’s football with the game we played in the yesteryear but I am of the feeling that there is no continuity.”
Phiri was part of the Dream Team coached by German Reinhard Fabisch in the ‘90s, in the later stages of a career that started in the early ‘80s.
Tomorrow he will be playing alongside his former Dream Team teammates and legends like Peter Ndlovu, Ephraim Chawanda, Willard Khumalo, Agent Sawu, Adam Ndlovu, Norman Mapeza and Shepherd Muradzikwa.
Tomorrow’s Dream Team squad will also include Gift Muzadzi, Calisto Pasuwa, Lloyd Chitembwe, Alois Bunjira, Stix M’tizwa, Masimba Dinyero, Carlos Max and Joey Antipas.
Former Warriors and CAPS United goalkeeper Brenna Msiska was supposed to be part of the squad but he withdrew following his brother’s death in Malawi.
They will be coached by Moses Chunga while Lazarus “DeMbare” Mhurushomana, who was a Zifa administrator during the Dream Team era, has been appointed team manager.
The charity day was organised by Chipaz Promotions and the events of the day will start at 9:45am with a social soccer match between Galaxy and Eleven Pints.
The local journalists will take to the field afterwards when the print side engage the electronic media at 11:45am.
Junior football will take centre stage at 12:30pm when Highfield play Chunga Academy with the friendly match between Premiership sides CAPS United and Motor Action being the main curtain-raiser two hours later.
The Dream Team will then clash with the musicians at 4:30pm.
The musicians’ team is set to feature Charles Charamba, Oliver “Tuku” M’tukudzi, First Farai, Peter Moyo and Winky D.
The soccer legends’ team manager Mhurushomana, who is now more into cattle farming, said the prospect of seeing the Dream Team getting together again in a charity match brings memories of the 1990s when junior football was still vibrant.
Mhurushomana also challenged the Premier Soccer League, Zifa, former players and the corporate world to help prop-up grassroots development.
“We all talk about the Dream Team of the ’90s and how it changed the face of football. It is also important to know how the team came about.
“To me the idea of raising funds for junior football is very important. Why? Because we have to look at how the Dream Team was founded around 1990.
“It all started when Zifa sourced sponsorship from Coca Cola for the provincial Under-20 soccer tournament where we featured the juniors from across the country.
“Many players who later made up the famous Dream Team emerged from this tournament. If we hadn’t got that sponsorship from Coca-Cola, how else were we going to unearth these talents?
“It was from this set up that we came up with this team that was later known as the Dream Team.
“So there is need to have proper funding and Zifa setting up effective structures for development because they are sitting on a diamond mine and doing little about it.
“The former players should always be available to assist. Zifa should not worry much in trying to find personnel to help them in the junior structures as long as these people are around.
“I also feel that the Premier Soccer League should play an active part because they are the major beneficiaries.
“They should establish a reserve league and also find sponsorship for the juniors from grassroots, like what used to happen in the past,” said Mhurushomana.