Who is the greatest?

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor–
FOR a long time now, the experts — the country’s football writers and commentators — have led the way in setting the agenda whenever the issue of who is the greatest Zimbabwean footballer of all-time comes long.But, for a refreshing change, the responsibility has been thrown into the hands of the country’s football fans who, for ages, have been left to feast on the crumbs of what the experts would have come up with.

On November 11, this year, the player who the fans believe is the finest footballer to have emerged from this country will be honoured at a star-studded function in Harare when ZIFA hold their inaugural awards.

Fans will vote for their choice of player, from four special footballers who have been short-listed by ZIFA as the best of players to have come out of this country, in a nationwide poll which the association believes could see over a million votes being cast.

Peter Ndlovu, widely considered to be the greatest Warrior of all-time, legendary goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, five-time Soccer Star of the Year winner George Shaya and the immortal Moses Chunga have been short-listed as the four players from whom the fans can pick their choice of who was the finest of all-time.

”It’s the People’s Choice Award, the one voted for by the fans themselves, and we felt that it was important, as we prepare for the big night that we also draw in the participation of the supporters in this exciting venture,” said Tendai Taruvinga, vice-chairperson of the ZIFA Awards.

”We felt that while the experts have been having their say for a long time, a very influential constituency of our game has been left behind in all this and it was important that we involve them and they get a chance to pick who they feel is their best of the very best.

”We have come up with a short-list, which was decided by a special panel that we have been engaging in the process, and from those four players — Bruce Grobbelaar, George Shaya,Peter Ndlovu and Moses Chunga — the fans will vote for the legend they believe is the best of them all.

”Like any poll, obviously, there will be a lot of debate, but we believe that when you consider Zimbabwe football, it’s past and it’s present, the selection of these four as the finest is a fair choice but one of them has to be picked as the finest.

”The voting process will be through a text message platform and a fan can vote as many times as he or she wishes for whoever they believe is their finest, from those short-listed individuals, and at the end of the day we will announce the winner at the special function.

”There are also rewards for those who will take part in the poll because someone will win a car, for merely texting, others will win television sets, others will win bicycles and other exciting prizes in what should be a fun-event.”

BRUCE GROBBELAAR

The Jungleman made 628 appearances for English Premiership giants Liverpool over 13 years and won six League Championships, three FA Cups, three League Cups and a European Cup for a return of 13 major trophies in 13 years at the Anfield giants. Bought only for £250 000 from Canadian club

Vancouver Whitecaps, Grobbelaar provided real value for money for Liverpool and revealed the highest wage he picked, back in the days when the English game wasn’t this money-making machine that it is today, was £2 800 a week in the colours of Southampton.

”I was two months old when I moved over to Rhodesia,” he told Liverpool Football Club TV. ”My father got a job on the railways and my mother followed soon after with my sister and myself.

”I class myself, was a Rhodesian and now a Zimbabwean because that’s the country that I grew up in and learnt my football. Very, very good childhood. It was a great upbringing. We had the weather to do all the sports and the discipline at the school.

“They were fantastic days at Liverpool but whatever happens now in my life I can’t complain too much. I came to this country with £10 in my pocket and after the Law Lords had finished with me, I had £1. That’s quite some life I’ve had on £9.”

Grobbelaar also starred for the Dream team.

GEORGE SHAYA

He is regarded by many as the finest talent to come out of Zimbabwean football and there are even others who pity him that he played at a time when the country was largely frozen from the international game.

A cult-hero at his beloved Dynamos, he was a natural and, on five occasions, was voted the Soccer Star of the Year, a feat that is yet to be matched by any player.

“When Shaya is out of the game. Dynamos are reduced to an ordinary team. When he is playing, all of the team’s magic is woven around him,” The Herald football writer, the late Alan Hlatywayo, himself a former player of note, wrote in 1976.

”Others have called Shaya Rhodesia’s Pele. Whatever the accolades, there was never any doubt about Shaya’s outstanding ability, which, combined with his power to create openings, made him stand out from other very good players.”

PETER NDLOVU

Widely regarded as the greatest Warrior of all-time, another natural talent, who made history as the first African to play in the English Premiership.

At the height of his athletic powers, he was being mentioned alongside the likes of Ryan Giggs and George Best, not bad for a lad from Bulawayo who arrived in England as a raw talent and exploded on the scene. Crucially, he led his country with distinction and twice shepherded them to the Nations Cup finals, including our first appearance in Tunisia in 2004.

MOSES CHUNGA

A maverick who was as good as they will come, in terms of talent, and that he was signed by a Belgian club, at a time when there were few African players in Europe, speaks volumes about his unquestionable talent.

He played in Belgium at a time when Kalusha Bwalya, the Zambian legend, was also in that country and won the African Footballer of the Year in 1988 while playing for Cercle Brugge. Chunga’s 46 goals, in one season in a domestic campaign, remains a benchmark of goal-scoring brilliance, 30 years down the line, and he was honoured by his Belgian club as one of the greatest to grace their dressing room in history.

In an interview with our sister newspaper, Kwayedza, he joked that he felt he was even better than Lionel Messi, when he was at his peak before injuries ruined his career, and while that will certainly create a storm of debate, there is no questioning he was very, very good.