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Tadious Manyepo
Sports Reporter
IT’S a Chibuku Super Cup semi-final football match between FC Platinum and Highlanders at Baobab on one November afternoon.
FC Platinum, who would be crowned champions last week, are the clear favourites but their opponents on that afternoon Highlanders are never pushovers.
They are Bosso, the defending champions of this trophy and morale in their camp is at its best given the massive sponsorship package they have received from energy giants Sakunda Holdings a month earlier.
But, they have average players in their ranks as compared to their rivals.
Expectedly, FC Platinum score through Panashe Mutimbanyoka to surge ahead before Highlanders coach Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu throws in midfielder Joel “Josta” Ngodzo as he tries to rescue the game.
But Ngodzo fails to give that magical touch which is desperately needed and FC Platinum cling on and secure their progress.
Ngodzo was somewhat lost in that lush green Mhondoro turf, misdirecting a handful of passes and maybe the weight of expectations just overwhelmed him.
So dismal he was in this match it was very difficult to convince oneself Ngodzo is the very player who was crowned the Soccer Star of the Year in this country just 24 months ago.
He was voted the finest player in the local league in 2019 when he was still turning out for CAPS United.
A stampede for his signature followed from regional clubs and it was modest Buildcon of Zambia who managed to secure his services.
He was accompanied at that team by compatriots Donald Teguru and Takudzwa Chimwemwe.
But, somehow, Ngodzo never managed to settle at this team and eventually retraced his roots back to Bosso where he is even warming the bench.
His story mirrors most of the players nominated for the Soccer Star of the Year accolade, especially over the last decade.
Experts have been questioning the standards of the game in the country right now with most of the soccer stars failing to break into the Zambian and South African Premiership leagues.
Chicken Inn coach Joey “Mafero” Antipas said the so-called soccer stars from the local league should thrive to work extra hard if they find an opportunity to play outside the country.
“I think our boys forget what they went there for when they either meet up with the wrong people and football becomes secondary and they fail to cope up due to the glitz and glamour of playing in those leagues,” said Antipas.
“Some forget that football’s lifespan is short and lucrative so they have to make the most of their talent and perform at the highest level for that period and generally being a foreigner, you have to always be on top of your game if not you are shown the exit door.”
BN Academy director and Zimbabwe National Coaches Association chairman, Bekhimpilo Nyoni, feels the players nominated for the Soccer Star of the Year award here are all good but at times fail to make it outside the country due to a change in environment.
“The Soccer Star of the Year comes out as result of teamwork and if someone moves to another league, he might be affected by the change of environment,” said Nyoni.
FC Platinum forward, Rodwell Chinyengetere, became the first player in the local league to win the Soccer Star of the Year accolade in consecutive years since the immortal George ”Mastermind” Shaya in the early 1970s when he won the crown in 2017 and 2018.
He was then signed by South African side Baroka and he failed to impress, resulting in him being loaned back to FC Platinum where he is also struggling to break into the first team.
Before Chinyengetere’s two-year reign, it was CAPS United’s Hardlife Zvirekwi who won the accolade after helping Makepekepe to the 2016 league title.
But, the 31-year-old, who would lose his palm in a nasty car accident in March 2018, never got any interest from clubs outside the country. Zvirekwi is now playing for Northern Region Soccer League (Division One) side Simba Bhora after he was off-loaded by CAPS United last year.
His predecessor in the soccer star fame, Danny Phiri, remains the only one who has stayed for long enough at a foreign club.
Phiri won the accolade in 2015 after marshaling Chicken Inn to the league title and was taken aboard by Golden Arrows of South Africa where he is still playing.
Before him was then ZPC Kariba’s Dennis Dauda who is now in Zambia.
But Dauda’s predecessor, Tawanda Mparati, never got a chance to play outside the country. In fact, the former Dynamos midfielder left the Glamour Boys for How Mine after which he left the game before a mild stroke left him needing all sorts of help.
He is in Rugare and now depends on his wife for survival.
Denver Mukamba is now playing for Ngezi Platinum Stars where he has rediscovered himself after his off-the-pitch behavior nearly cost him his place in the country’s football belly.
After winning the big prize while playing for Dynamos in 2012, Mukamba was signed by Bidvest in South Africa where he was then loaned to University of Pretoria. His contract was never renewed for truancy and he has been hip-hopping from one team to the other in the local league.
But goalkeeper Washington Arubi is still in South Africa since moving that side after winning the crown in 2011.
Charles Sibanda, who grabbed the big prize in 2010 while still with Motor Action, went on to have an illustrious career at FC Platinum but never attracted any foreign interest.
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