Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
IT is mid-January, and the Zimbabwean Premier Soccer League pre-season is about to start.
Teams are beefing up their squads while some international players plying their trade in Zimbabwe are tracking back to their respective bases.
However, at CAPS United, a man is missing.
It is Crispin Mugalu, a DR Congo expatriate who brought some excitement to PSL and the Green Machine when he joined them mid-way last year.
Mugalu is in his home country, marooned by a raging war.
The gunpowder laced air of Lubumbashi presses down heavily on him, a weight almost as heavy as the despair settling in his chest.
A restless Mugalu looks at the situation in his home country and thinks he perhaps will never be able to play for the Green Machine again, let alone return to Zimbabwe.
His passport is expired and whenever he holds it in his hand, it feels like nothing more than an expired “symbol of a life” now on hold.
It almost feels like his football dream is being swallowed by the relentless gnaw of civil conflict.
Desperate to obtain a passport to replace an expired one, his efforts were always hampered by the war.
Every positive step got its blow as days turned into weeks, weeks into months and in Zimbabwe, preseason was underway with the season also drawing closer.
His place in the Makepekepe squad, he thought, was slowly falling away.
“It was the most difficult time of my life, a moment where you just wake up, trapped at home and unsure of what you will do because football is life to me,” reminisced Mugalu.
Mugalu counted his days, looking forward to almost nothing.
Feeling that he may never return to CAPS, Mugalu had resigned to the fact that in his future perhaps until eternity nothing good would ever come his way again.
Life to him had reduced to just a clock counting down until his last breath, while his heart harbored an anguish and agony that burnt far much hotter than the sun.
Then unexpectedly came a call.
His heart skipped a bit, hesitant to answer the call for fear that it was perhaps one bearing news on termination of his contract.
After pondering for a moment, he eventually answered the phone.
Turns out, it was a reassurance call, one that would change everything for him.
CAPS United president Farai Jere, and coach Takesure Chiragwi were on the other end of the line, assuring him that he was still part of the club.
That calmed his nerves, but just a little bit.
He had to win his own battle to get the key document first.
“I felt stranded because when I got home, knowing that my passport was expired I started the replacement process…with the war, offices were not fully functional and everything delayed,” he said.
“The season started; the passport was still not yet out…I would follow up on my team online.
“It was heartbreaking to know that even if the passport came, I still had to wait up to midseason to be registered but having assured me that I was still part of CAPS, it gave me comfort.”
Eventually, the passport came and Mugalu finally found his way back to Zimbabwe.
“I still remember the day I collected my passport, I knelt down right there and thanked God,” he said.
Coincidentally when he arrived, CAPS United, a side that had been riding high in the league started losing momentum.
He watched from the sidelines as the Green Machine struggled for consistency, enduring a tough stretch where they managed a solitary win in eight matches across May and June.
From topping the log standings where they led the race with four points at some point, CAPS have now sunk to position six, 11 adrift leaders Scottland.
Mugalu had to once again endure an agonizing wait, while counting down to the mid-season transfer window to open.
Eventually on July 1, he was amongst the first players to be registered in the PSL.
At CAPS he was registered together with mid-season signings, goalkeepers Washington Arubi from Marumo Gallants and Victor James who came in from Jwaneng Galaxy, Botswana.
Malawian duo of midfielder Precious Phiri also joined from FC Platinum and winger Vunga Uchizi (ex-Silver Striker also arrived at the same time.
Mugalu made his 2026 debut for Makepekepe when they played away to a 3-3 draw with Hardrock at Chahwanda.
Washington Navaya and substitute Wilfred Madzungu (who scored twice) were on point for Hardrock while CAPS United’s goals came from Kudzai Chigwida, substitute Obriel Chirinda and Mugalu.
“I believe that is now time for me to repay the club for handing me another shot at football,” he said.
“It is not easy to watch helplessly as your team struggles, I am putting in an extra shift to make sure that whenever I step into the pitch, I give them the best of my services.
“I could not get the opportunity to do preseason with the team, and I knew I would be lagging in fitness hence I need to work harder than everyone else.”
The centre-forward acknowledges that his first six-months at the club were tough after scoring only once.
He is still remembered for making an impressive first impression when nodding in a decisive header on his debut to secure a 1-0 victory over Scottland FC last year.
“Last year was a very bad season, for me to adjust and fit into CAPS’ system took very long,” he recalls.
“So my aim was to double my work rate in the preseason, then the passport challenge came but when I eventually made it here I told myself that I had to work harder.
“However, I know that I cannot do it alone, I have to fit into a system which already has other players… we have an ambition and we are speaking in one voice.
“This season I believe we have good, experienced players and if we pull in one direction, we can deliver on the target.”
He still recalls of the difficult time they endured last year as they flirted with relegation.
“It was a very challenging phase especially for us the internationals, eyes will be on you and everyone forgets that you are also fighting your own battles trying to fit in,” he said.
“Expectations are always high on internationals; the pressure is real; I felt it last year but I took it as a motivation to work harder.”
For Mugalu, CAPS United is a second home, one he found on the football pitch and each time he dons the green badge reminds him of the phone call that handed him another shot to life.
