admin
The Herald, October 21, 1980
ZIMBABWE’S ace soccer striker, Shacky Tauro of CAPS United was assaulted on Saturday night and it is doubtful whether he will be fit to play against Malawi in the first leg of the Africa Cup of Unity in Blantyre on Sunday.
Tauro, who has several stitches on his swollen upper lip, said he was attacked by supporters of a rival Salisbury team, who confronted him at a nightclub.
“There were about eight of them”, said Tauro yesterday.
“They accused me of scoring too many goals against their team this season and before I knew what was happening, some of them started hitting me”.
The national squad, which is due to leave for Malawi on Friday, assembled in Salisbury yesterday morning to start their match preparations.
Tauro was not able to train with the rest of the team yesterday afternoon and he is unlikely to take part in the two match preparations which have been organised by national coach John Rugg today.
Rugg was downhearted after he saw Mr Tauro’s injury.
“I hope it’s not too serious. However, we have several other strikers who can replace him if he cannot make the trip.”
LESSONS FOR TODAY
- Soccer is a sport that can unite people and in the same vein, it can cause serious divisions amongst people.
- Emotions can run high among both the players and the supporters and some of the tempers can boil over as with the case in the Shacky Tauro incident.
- Hooliganism is a cancer that is eating into football across the world and there have been spirited efforts to eliminate the practice.
- People, especially soccer supporters should learn to appreciate and celebrate others. In the case of Shacky Tauro, he was not only a CAPS United player but also a national team player. By assaulting him, the perpetrators prevented him from representing the country.
Online Reporter