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Sharuko on Saturday
I HAVE always had this love affair with every year that ends with a NINE, after all, in 1969, I spent SEVEN of those months in my mother’s womb — protected from the heat, covered from the cold and shielded from the rain.
Until you get to know that during pregnancy, mothers are transformed into specialists of endurance, living at the very limits a human body can possibly take, then you are unlikely to understand how special these people are, and become, during those months they carry us inside their bodies.
Amazingly, from about SEVEN months, which for me came at the tail-end of ’69, we can even hear our mothers speak from our safety inside their wombs, and already we are beginning to learn their language before we have even been delivered.
And, whether by design or default, ’69 was also the year this country plunged into its first World Cup qualifier in that three-match showdown against the Australians in Mozambique, which the men from Down Under eventually won 1-0.
By the time our generation arrived the following year — again whether by design or default — the best collection of footballers ever to be assembled in one national team, the Brazilians of ’70 were paraded to the world.
The stage was the ’70 World Cup in Mexico and, whether by design or default, the images from that World Cup were also broadcast in colour around the globe for the first time in the history of television.
Of course, for the first time in the 20th century, it had to be the first year of a decade that would be dominated by the number SEVEN, which in case you didn’t know, is very significant — there are seven days of the week, seven colours of the rainbow, seven notes on a musical scale, seven seas and seven continents.
It is considered the luckiest number of them all and when Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond was looking for a code for his hero, he simply went for 007, and Brazilian superstar Garrincha, widely considered the finest dribbler of all-time, wore the number SEVEN jersey.
And so did George Best, Bryan Robson, Raul, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Okay, that was just a detour, but that’s how we do it on this blog, and let’s drift back to our subject about the year that ends with a NINE.
In Mathematics, NINE is also a special number because 2 × 9 = 18 (1 + 8 = 9); 3 × 9 = 27 (2 + 7 = 9); 9 × 9 = 81 (8 + 1 = 9); 121 × 9 = 1089 (1 + 0 + 8 + 9 = 18; 1 + 8 = 9); 234 × 9 = 2106 (2 + 1 + 0 + 6 = 9); 578329 × 9 = 5204961 (5 + 2 + 0 + 4 + 9 + 6 + 1 = 27; 2 + 7 = 9); 482729235601 × 9 = 4344563120409 (4 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 9 = 45; 4 + 5 = 9); 12345679 × 9 = 111111111; 12345679 × 18 = 222222222; 12345679 × 81 = 999999999.
A cat is said to have nine lives, if you are happy you are said to be on cloud nine and a stitch in time saves nine and, of course, in ancient Egypt, nine bows represent the traditional enemies of Egypt.
Somehow, this country’s first plunge into international football had to come in a year that also ended with a NINE, 1929, in a game against the England XI during their tour of Southern Africa.
On June 26, it will mark NINETY years since that game, which the visitors won 4-0.
From George Shaya winning the first, of his five Soccer Star of the Year awards in 1969, Shacky Tauro capturing the same prize in 1979, Peter Ndlovu announcing his arrival at the Copa Coca-Cola tournament in 1989, Sunday Chidzambwa ending his romance with Dynamos in 1999 to Knowledge Musona arriving at Kaizer Chiefs in 2009, the year that ends with a NINE has always been significant in domestic football.
This year also ends with a NINE and we wait to see the gifts it bears for our football.
SUPER EAGLES, THAT YEAR THAT ENDS WITH A NINE, AND A DATE WITH THE WARRIORS
Today, the Warriors are in Nigeria for an international friendly against the Super Eagles, who whether by design or default, are also marking 70 years since they came into being in a year that ended with a NINE.
That was in 1949, and — just like their Zimbabwean counterparts — it all started with a game against English opposition.
At least, our pioneer international representatives used football boots, not as we know them now, because the first Super Eagles team that went on that tour of England in 1949, arriving at the port of Liverpool to begin their adventure, didn’t have any boots and wanted to play barefooted.
It might sound funny today, but it’s understandable when one considers that before 1891, the year this newspaper was established, football boots were not in use in football. Instead, the players used work boots (gumboots), which usually had a reinforced toe made of steel, were heavy on the feet and were not designed for people to run in or even kick a ball.
It wasn’t until 1891 that small studs were used for the first time and work boots were then replaced by the football boots, designed with leather, even though the early ones were thick and were laced up to the ankles for better protection. But, all kinds of the latest sportswear will be on display at the Stephen Keshi International Stadium in Asaba today when the Super Eagles host the Warriors.
For Chidzambwa, today’s game is a return to the innocence of the formative years of his relationship with these Warriors, when as the first captain of the team on its return to international football after Independence, he led his men to a 2-0 home win over the Super Eagles in a friendly at Rufaro on August 1, 1981.
It was a landmark triumph for the Warriors given the Super Eagles had a year earlier, been crowned champions of Africa in style after a 3-0 thrashing of Algeria in the final in Lagos.
A few months earlier, Mhofu had also captained Dynamos to one of their greatest displays in the old Cup of Club Champions, now renamed the CAF Champions League, as they shocked the continent to beat Shooting Stars 2-1 in Ibadan, in the first leg of the second round of the tournament before completing the 5-1 aggregate massacre with a comfortable 3-0 home win at Rufaro.
Matches between the Warriors and the Super Eagles have been few and far between, especially when one considers that we seem to always play Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions or Guinea’s National Elephants just about every other campaign in either the AFCON or World Cup qualifiers.
A good six years passed after that friendly in Harare in 1981 before the two teams met again, this time in an ’88 AFCON qualifier, with the first leg in Harare ending goalless draw, before the Super Eagles, as they usually do at home, won 2-0 in their backyard.
Two years later, in another qualifier for the ’90 AFCON finals, the two teams met again and another draw came out of the Harare battle, while a 0-3 defeat for the Warriors in Nigeria ended their interest.
The ’90s, the Dream Team, Reinhard Fabisch, Benjamin Nkonjera, and all those wild days and nights came and went without any battle against the Super Eagles.
But, after the turn of the millennium, it all changed again and, while not at the rate that we play Guinea, Liberia or Cameroon, we have been seeing a lot of matches between the Warriors, and even the Young Warriors, against the Nigerians.
SOMETIMES, IN LIFE AS IN SPORT, IT’S HARD TO ARGUE SOME THINGS ARE JUST MEANT TO BE
Sometimes it’s difficult to argue otherwise — that some things are just meant to be and, as mere mortals, we possibly can never understand why certain things happen in a certain way.
When Lionel Messi sealed Barcelona’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool at the Nou Camp, with that magical free-kick which grabbed headlines around the world last month, it appeared to be the beginning of the end of the Reds’ Champions League campaign this year.
But, for some seasoned observers, a grand achievement in Six Nations rugby in Cardiff two months earlier kept telling them that this battle was far from over and Liverpool, despite their first leg disadvantage, would not only dump Barca out, but go and win the Champions League title.
When Wales completed the Grand Slam in this year’s Six Nations Rugby tournament by winning all their games, including the last one against Ireland in Cardiff in March, those seasoned observers knew that something special was brewing for Liverpool in this Champions League. Just like 1978 and 2005, when Wales completed the Six Nations Grand Slam, Liverpool were crowned champions of Europe and, for those seasoned observers, this year would not be any different despite the Reds having suffered a 3-0 mauling at the Nou Camp.
Each of Liverpool’s previous five European Cups — in 1977 (France), 1978 (Wales), 1981 (France), 1984 (Scotland) and 2005 (Wales) — had come in the year a country had completed the Grand Slam in rugby, and when Wales did it this year, the signs were there the Reds would triumph again.
There was also something else, something big — Tiger Woods rolled back the years, at Augusta this year to win the Masters for the first time since 2005, the last year Liverpool had also ruled Europe, and once he got that green jacket, it became certain the Reds would also rule again. And, of course, there was the little omen of the royal wedding between Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston on May 18 this year and, every time the Reds had triumphed in Europe, a royal had wedded.
Now, how does Mhofu explain the coincidence that every time he takes the Warriors to the AFCON finals, the first match has to be against the Pharaohs of Egypt — they were the opponents in Tunisia in 2004 and they will be the opponents in Cairo this month?
How do we explain that every time we have to play the AFCON finals in Egypt, we have to take on the Super Eagles somewhere along the line — they were the opponents in a group game in 2006 and they are our opponents in our final warm-up match today in Asaba?
How does Mhofu explain that every time he takes the Warriors to the AFCON finals, one of his team’s group games have to be against an opponent inspired by the reigning African Footballer of the Year? Back in 2004 in Tunisia, his Warriors came up against a Cameroon side, in their second group match, which featured the reigning African Footballer of the Year — Samuel Etoó, and this month in Cairo, their opening match is against an Egyptian side powered by the African Footballer of the Year — Mohamed Salah.
How did the football gods come up with a script that says the Warriors have to face two of the football stars who scored in the Europa League and Champions League finals, Alex Iwobi for Arsenal, and Salah for Egypt, in their next two high-profile matches — one a preparatory game, the other an AFCON opener?
But, then, sometimes in life as in football, some things are just meant to be.
And, today we take on the Super Eagles, remember them — Charles Mabika, Jay Jay Okocha — that three-goal mauling at the giant stadium, all that drama that followed, football, what a beautiful and bloody game?
To God Be The Glory!
Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooooooo!
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