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HE was billed to reach the stars, but at 24 Lincoln Zvasiya finds himself closer to the football rubbish bin than anything else.
The former Young Warriors skipper is a pale shadow of the utility man who rose from the famed Aces Youth Academy to a starring role at FC Platinum before being swooped on by South African glamour side Kaizer Chiefs.
At Amakhosi, he was so good that Greek outfit OFI Crete FC took him on a six-month loan in July 2013.
“Lincoln is a top player. We looked at the team and thought it would be best for him to get game-time at another club,” Amakhosi football manager Bobby Motaung was quoted saying at the time.
“We will continually monitor the situation and determine the way forward. It is also good for him to gain experience in a different country.
“He is still young and it is good for his growth and development as a player.
“It is Kaizer Chiefs policy to open up opportunities for the players especially when those opportunities will grow and develop the players.”
However, the European side decided against signing Zvasiya and the defender returned to Kaizer Chiefs at the beginning of last year.
Reports of indiscipline surfaced and Amakhosi let the player go.
Efforts to join lower league South African sides such as Royal Eagles and Cape Town All Stars failed.
Home was the only option for the defender, nicknamed Badra, after legendary Tunisian international Khaled Badra who lifted the African Nations Cup with the Carthage Eagles in 2004.
Zvasiya tried his luck at Dynamos but the Glamour Boys said no, and the defender spent the whole of 2014 away from the game that was supposed to butter his bread.
Remedial work
The appointment of Taurai Mangwiro as Harare City coach saw Zvasiya trying to impress the man who gave him his Premiership debut while at Monomotapa in 2010.
Mangwiro decided to give Zvasiya a chance after being “impressed” during 2015 pre-season training.
It’s a decision he has lived to regret as the defender never proved his worth amid reports of drug abuse.
Harare City were left with no choice but to let Zvasiya and his new found friend Nicholas Alifandika go during the just closed mid-season transfer window.
Mangwiro says the player needs “a lot of remedial work”.
“I am the one who brought him into the Premiership when I was still at Monoz and I know he is a very talented young lad. . .technically he is one of the best in the country.
“He just has to address the discipline issue. He still has what it takes to return to the top.
“But like I always tell these players, it is not only what happens on the field, but off it as well that affects one’s career. A lot of remedial work is required, he is no longer the Zvasiya whose discipline saw him scale great heights at a young age,” says the Harare City mentor.
Indiscipline, sources claim, was the main reason Zvasiya was offloaded.
“As Harare City we do not want to talk much about Zvasiya’s issue but we felt he had become a bad influence (on) the (other) players.
“The reason why Alifandika was also offloaded is that he had also been recruited into the abuse of drugs and stuff,” claims a source.
Alifandika denies the allegations.
A telephone interview with Zvasiya was a disaster with the former Kaizer Chiefs sounding out of sorts.
“I do not want to talk much about it, please talk to Harare City officials about anything you want to hear about me. . .I do not give interviews without permission from my superiors,” said Zvasiya who denies abusing cough mixtures or any other drugs.
Broken spirit
Aces Youth Soccer Academy director Nigel Munyati is disappointed with how the career of a player who graduated at the same time as Khama Billiat and Knowledge Musona has horribly gone off the rails.
Munyati accuses Chiefs of failing to manage Zvasiya well.
“We expected a lot from this boy. Somehow, I feel Kaizer Chiefs are to blame for basically failing to manage the player’s career,” he says.
“You would hear he is in Greece, he is back and the other time Chiefs can’t register Zvasiya because of the foreign (players) quota system.
“He spent a long time on the sidelines and that affected him a lot.
“His is a case of a broken spirit, he is depressed. I spoke to him about it and I know the young man is failing to come to terms with reality.
“His agents, too, are to blame, for failing to represent him at crucial stages.”
Chiefs – who released Zvasiya with a year to go on his contract – maintain everything they did during the time the defender was on their books was professional.
Online Reporter