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Tadious Manyepo
Sports Reporter
ZIFA national teams general manager Wellington Mpandare has been one of the busiest football persons in the 17 months the country has been in the sin bin of international football.
Five key members of the Warriors (names supplied) wanted to retire from the national team in protest of the continued suspension but Mpandare stood in their way.
It wasn’t that easy though, given the nature of the messages he received from them which The Herald has seen.
He has learnt, in so many ways, how to be a counsellor and a motivator, assuring and reassuring the frustrated and hopeless.
He has received brickbats, a lot of them too.
His inbox is full of messages from over 500 national team players and prospective players from all age groups, both female and male.
They are not only messages of regret from players who were eligible to play for other countries like England but messages of sorrow over the situation that prevailed over the past 17 months.
Some of the players had actually prepared and signed retirement letters which Mpandare threw away.
Zimbabwe has been under suspension from international football for what FIFA termed government interference in the running of the game.
This followed the disbanding of the Felton Kamambo-led ZIFA executive by the Sports and Recreation Commission in November 2021 over a litany of allegations ranging from corporate governance gaps to general mismanagement of the football running institution.
Protracted engagements and re-engagements between FIFA and the SRC dominated the discourse over the past 17 months with the two parties recently finding common ground that culminated in the lifting of Zimbabwe’s embargo last week.
The damage the suspension has had on the players and even hopefuls who dropped before venturing into football has been immense.
And it is Mpandare who has felt the impact the most as he is usually the go-to man when it comes to matters affecting players.
Without international football, Zimbabwe players’ market values have been depreciating or at best stagnant despite some of them having good seasons in top leagues.
Warriors striker Tino Kadewere, for long the most valuable Zimbabwean player according to Transfer Market, has seen his value dropping by more than 50 percent in the past 14 months.
The Lyon forward spent the entire 2023-2024 on loan at Spanish La Liga side Mallorca.
With an estimated market value of 8.5 million Euros in April last year, Kadewere’s value has significantly dropped to about 4 million Euros.
Despite enjoying his game at Reims in the French Ligue 1, midfielder Marshall Munetsi is finding it difficult to break into a better league.
His market value may have marginally improved but he remains stuck at an average team playing in a league currently ranked outside the World’s top six.
Aston Villa’s Marvellous Nakamba has had to settle for less after begrudgingly accepting a loan deal to play in the English Championship for Luton Town after failing to fit in the Clarets and Red system last term.
He managed to help Luton Town to the English Premier League via the play-offs before returning to Aston Villa last month.
But, he is not a favourite at Villa Park with reports linking him with another loan spell at Luton Town, who are also understood to be pushing for a permanent deal.
Roving utility Jordan Zemura has had to force a move from English Premiership side Bournemouth to Italian club Udinese after refusing to take a less lucrative contract offer.
Those playing in the local league have stood still.
With scouts apparently uninterested with football in a country placed in the cold, no players have made any meaningful foreign moves as is usually the case.
Mpandare has had to deal with each of them, addressing their fears one by one in a period the former Gunners manager describes as hell.
He revealed that more than five Warriors regulars, minus ex-captain Knowledge Musona, who has already retired from national team duties, wanted to quit international football but he convinced them that the country would be readmitted in the international football family.
“They (players) were no longer patient. The suspension was very difficult especially for me personally with the position that I hold. I am the one who convinced some of the players to choose to play for Zimbabwe instead of other countries.
“I was actually in the process of sorting passports for the other players. The question that I always faced from the players has been: are we ever going to play international football? Some of them, those big name players, wanted to announce their retirement from international football,” said Mpandare.
“You see if these players do not play international football, their transfer market value also goes down. The value only goes up when they get international caps. It was very difficult for me to answer all these questions all the time.
“I had to address their concerns one by one and I am happy that finally I can smile again because I have been telling them to be a bit patient.
“They can play football again and this is exactly what I have been telling them. But they have always been doubting. I understand because they were frustrated. I had to be a counsellor for them every day”.
With Musona now retired and most of the players who did duty for the Warriors in the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon last year now north of 30, Mpandare said Zimbabwe can leverage on the bulging number of players spread across Europe especially in England to have a strong squad for the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Zimbabwe are in Group C of the qualifiers along with giants Nigeria.
South Africa, Benin, Rwanda and Lesotho are also in this pool with only winners guaranteed a place at the World Cup in 2026 to be staged across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Runners-up from the group will have a chance to qualify via play-offs.
“The challenge now is we don’t have time and we don’t have players. If you look at the team that we had for the Africa Cup of Nations last year, most of them are already north of 30 while others have retired,” said Mpandare.
“So it’s like we are starting afresh. We can go to England where there are a lot of Zimbabwean players and have periodic camps because it won’t be possible for us to call all the players and assess them at once when we are about to play games.
“We have more than 50 players around Europe who are eligible to play for Zimbabwe. We also have very good players playing in the local league”.
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