Online Reporter
Langton Nyakwenda
HALF a dozen years after retiring from football, Edward Sadomba’s name keeps bouncing back into the limelight.
The former Zimbabwe international is still regarded as one of the best strikers to have featured in Africa’s inter-club competitions – the CAF Champions League and the Confederation Cup.
Sadomba is one of the three players to have won the Golden Boot in both competitions in 2011 in the Champions League and in the second-tier Confederation Cup the following season.
He achieved the feat while turning out for Sudanese giants and perennial African football campaigners, Al Hilal.
In fact, Sadomba enjoyed a fine spell in North Africa where he also turned out for Al Ahli in Libya via a short spell in Tunisia.
But it was at Al Hilal who were then under the guidance of Serbian Milutin “Micho’’ Sredojević where Sadomba really excelled and scored seven goals as the Sudanese reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2011.
The following year, he was the joint top scorer with five goals for the Sudanese giants in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Tanzanian striker, Mbwana Sabata, in 2013 and 2015, was the only other player to achieve that feat until last Sunday, when DR Congo star Fiston Mayele joined this elite class.
Mayele scored his ninth goal as Egyptian side Pyramids beat Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 in Cairo, to win the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies Champions League final on a 3-2 aggregate scoreline.
The 30-year-old Mayele also won the Golden Boot during the 2022/2023 CAF Confederation Cup.
Mayele is now being mentioned in the same vein with Sadomba and Sabata, the only other players ever to win the Golden Boot in both inter-club competitions.
“Congratulations to Mayele for joining this special class,” said Sadomba.
“It’s a great feeling to break records and for me it is nice to be part of this special group.
“I had a nice time in North Africa where I achieved so many things with different teams there,” the former Dynamos and Al Hilal star striker told Zimpapers Sports Hub.
Sadomba is one of the all-time highest scorers in the Champions League and the Confederation Cup tournaments.
He scored a total of 33 goals and is mentioned in the same class with legends like Egyptian icon Mahmoud Al-Katib, who scored 37 goals and Angola’s Flavio, who netted 35.
Former DR Congo and TP Mazembe talisman Tresor Mputu is the highest scorer with over 56 goals.
That he is among Africa’s elite strikers, also makes the 41-year-old Sadomba, Zimbabwe’s top-scoring player in continental club competitions.
He remains the only Zimbabwean to win a Golden Boot in the continent’s interclub competitions.
Another former Dynamos striker Makwinji Soma Phiri, is the only Zimbabwean to score in a CAF Champions League final.
Soma-Phiri scored once in Dynamos’ 4-2 defeat by ASEC Mimosas in the 1998 Champions League final with Ghanian George Owusu adding the other goal.
But in terms of consistency and a bigger profile, it is, Sadomba who stands tall with 33 goals on the continent.
He remains a revered figure in Sudan, six years after hanging up his boots.
“The time I spent in North Africa was wonderful.
“Sudan is like a second home to me. I am loved there,” revealed Sadomba.
The former Dynamos star forward is however hoping a fellow Zimbabweans will match his record.
“It would be nice to have another Zimbabwean joining this special group of players.
“But it all begins with us having teams that go far in these tournaments,” added Sadomba.
Affectionately known as “Duduza”, during his peak, Sadomba led from the front as Dynamos reached their second semi-final in 2008.
DeMbare were knocked out by Coton Sport Garoua of Cameroon but Sadomba had already made a name after netting five times for the Harare giants.
His performance in the 2008 Champions League with Dynamos earned him a move to Al Hilal of Sudan via South Africa and Mozambique.
Sadomba might have retired from the game that gave him fame, but his son El Shaddai is making sure his father’s legacy lives on.
El Shaddai is now part of Zimbabwe’s Under-17 national team.
