post-Independence era and, when the time came for him to return home, he settled on another stint with his beloved Dynamos.
Chunga’s pre-Europe era has a number of defining moments, too numerous to mention in one issue of this blog, including wicked curling balls that flew into the nets, with both pace and stunning accuracy, straight from corner kicks.
Or the booming drives from distance, either with his left or right foot, which used to reduce such respectable ‘keepers like Nat Bismark to mere mortals just like you and me on the occasions we try to keep goals for our social sides.
Or that crystalised moment, which is treasured in the minds of all the DeMbare fans lucky enough to have been witnesses during that golden era when Dynamos was Haina Ngozi or Seven Million or, simply, Boys in Blue, when the Razorman appeared to freeze time.
When time seemed to stand still, as his dexterity enabled him to perform a stunt never seen before on our football fields, as he stood motionless, with his whole lanky frame standing on the ball. That was Chunga at his best in the age of his football innocence when everything flowed naturally.
And, when he was told to pass by legendary coach Brian Clough during trials at Nottingham Forest, he somehow found inspiration in his instincts to dribble past the entire defence and score a goal for the archives.
Clough, a football purist who believed players either listened to his instructions or took their talents elsewhere, duly declared Bambo not good enough for his team simply because he did not take instructions.
My colleague Collin Matiza always says Europe made Chunga a better player and it showed when he came to play for the Warriors where the refinement in his game was clearly evident and where there had been a rough diamond, Afro hairstyle and all, now stood a proud national captain who was inspirational to his nation.
The defining moment for Chunga, in his comeback show at home in the colours of Dynamos, came one afternoon at the National Sports Stadium in 1995 during an African Cup of Club Champions Cup tie between the Glamour Boys and Express of Uganda.
Having scored the only goal in a 1-0 win in Kampala, Chunga was somehow wasted away on the bench in the reverse encounter and, after the Ugandans had cancelled the away goal in the first half and a nervy home crowd becoming increasingly volatile, Sunday Chidzambwa threw on the Razorman in the second half.
His first touch was bring down a high pass with his chest, 30 metres out of goal, and then, in one movement, catching the ball on the volley to produce a strike that was both true and sweet and it arrowed right into the corner for DeMbare’s equaliser.
Chunga’s big profile meant that his homecoming show received as much publicity as his pre-Europe days when he was simply known as the Razorman and, while he tried his best, age and a erious knee injury, meant that we could not see the genius who had left in the ‘80s.
The memories were now few and far between and only the enduring image, of that game against Express at the giant stadium, remains.
Peter Ndlovu, the greatest Warrior of all-time, also had his homecoming show after a spell in Europe and South Africa but we never fooled ourselves that we would see the magical Flying Elephant, our football hero with boyish looks who had charmed us in the’90s and at the turn of the millennium.
We knew time had changed a lot, injuries had taken their toll, age had played its cruel part and while there was massive publicity blitz related to Peter’s homecoming show, it’s fair to suggest that it fizzled out without a whimper and, in the blink of an eye, it was all over. If there is a disappointment in all this, maybe it comes from the pain that when it all ended, it wasn’t in the black-and-white royal colours of Bosso, where it had all began, 21 years earlier, with a Prince Peter, then a mere schoolboy, looking out of place on the field in oversized shots.
But that certainly won’t dilute King Peter’s greatness on the field, a football genius of the highest order, and if his homecoming was a no-show, who cares, because there is a lot from his other golden spell to write an encyclopedia.
Agent Sawu, the greatest goal-scorer of the Dream Team era, also had his homecoming show and played for Dynamos where he made quite an impact and, under Keegan Mumba, they could have won the league championship had the club’s leadership not tempted fate by foolishly fielding an ineligible Edmore Mufema.
In the ‘90s, when the Dream Team took a number of players to Europe, we had a number of such homecoming shows — from Benjamin Nkonjera to Madinda Ndlovu, from Willard Mashinkila-Khumalo to Stewart Murisa to Lloyd Chitembwe.
Everyone has his story and Lodza will probably say, with a lot of justification, that he was the most successful of the returning residents, he won two more league titles at home and became the most decorated player at CAPS United, better than Sinyo, better than Jubilee, better than Stix.

The Chinyama Homecoming Show
We can rewind the clocks to 20 years ago, when these homecoming shows started, but we are unlikely to see any individual who made as huge an impact, in his first month back home, as Takesure Chinyama has done.
Some critics have pointed the guns at us saying that we are overplaying this show, that the giant forward doesn’t deserve all the publicity he is getting, that it’s still early days yet and, in a flash, he could lose it all and, it’s all some form of madness that will end sooner than later.
Good for them.
But I don’t carry any apologies for the way we have played the Chinyama song, as much as it obviously frustrates those who don’t believe in the team he plays for because, in a polarised world like in the trenches of the domestic league, reasoning is a commodity in very short supply.
Yes, like any other footballer, his goal-scoring touch might desert him and it could happen as quickly as today, if he plays against Monomotapa, because that is what football is all about, and he could maybe go on a barren run for about five games.
It happens, we have seen it all the time, and the challenge to deliver weighs heavily on the shoulders of the strikers whose contribution is usually counted by the number of goals they score. But, in the event that happens, it won’t take away what he has achieved in his first month back home after a largely successful spell in Europe in which he became the first non-European player to win the Golden Boot in the Polish top-flight league.
Fact is, this guy has made a huge splash and noone has done that before, in his homecoming show, not even Bambo, as we now call the forty-something Razorman, not ever King Peter, not even Ajira, not even Shutto, the list could go on and on and on.
Seven goals in his first four games isn’t a joke in a country where the Golden Boot winner ended with 14 goals in an entire season.
Three goals in his first league match back home isn’t a joke in a country where Simba Sithole led the scoring charts, with 10 goals in 12 games, by the time Mamelodi Sundowns came hunting and snatched him from CAPS United.
And where the Self-styled Prince, Rodreck Mutuma, needed to play until November to overhaul Sithole and win the Golden Boot.
Three goals in his first two Champions League matches isn’t a joke in a competition where the leading scorer averages seven to eight goals in a year and playing in a team without a natural playmaker, which played both legs against Liga Muculmana with two defensive midfielders. And, crucially, these are not just ordinary goals.
We have already been treated to some great goals and those who were in Mozambique left with memories of a finisher who can strike from any distance and those who came to Rufaro left with memories of a gunman who can see opportunities everywhere.
Charles Mabika is the big voice of football in Zimbabwe and has been so since some of us where still struggling with equations in secondary school and mipanda as in mu,va, mu, mi, ri, ma, whatever, guess I got it right.
Last week, CNN, as he prefers to call himself, came out publicly to say Chinyama had started his homecoming show playing at a level that hasn’t been seen, on the domestic front, for a very long time.
I listen a lot when Mabika speaks because he knows his stuff and has been in the trenches for a very long time and has seen them all, from wing wizards like Sinyo and Mabhurugwa and Godoka, midfield magicians like Jubilee and Computer and genuine goal-scorers like Shackman and Ghetto.
Mabika even stuck his neck out to suggest that he doesn’t see Chinyama sticking around on the domestic front for a long time because, at this level of performance, Europe will come knocking on his door once again.
There are concerns from others that his knee has been battered and might not survive the rigorous examination of playing week in and week out on a hard surface like the artificial field at Rufaro and, crucially, might fail to pass the medical examination of European team doctors.
But there will always be people who look on the dark side, who wish others ill, it’s the brutal reality of our DNA as humans.
After all some said Murisa, when he returned home with a battered knee, would never play again but he didn’t only play for Dynamos and Highlanders but even went back and resuscitated his career in South Africa.
In the year that Fabrice Muamba was technically dead for 78 minutes, and somehow doctors managed to revive him, who are we to judge that Chinyama’s knee won’t survive the test?
Come on guys, let’s look on the brighter side and we will see a wonderful world, beautiful in every sense, where goal-scorers like Chinyama deserve their credit, where 30 000 fans flock to Rufaro just to watch them play, where their star quality drive the sales of newspapers, where they turn into day-long subjects on the social media forums and in bars.
Critics will always be there, on Facebook they call them haters, but you can never keep a good man down and Chinyama’s impact has been sensational and has been worth every word, every paragraph, every headline, every picture, every teaser that we have published in this newspaper.
You can’t apologise for doing something right and if we can’t celebrate Chinyama’s goals, using a newspaper specifically created for such a purpose, who will do that for him?
The Star or Sowetan in South Africa? Not until he crosses the LImpopo. The Sun or Mirror in England? My foot! Marca in Spain? Not a chance! The Post in Zambia? Never, ever!
The Herald in Zimbabwe? Of course!
George Nechironga wrote to me this week and said there was too much coverage of European football in our newspapers there was a danger the young readership could be lost to the Rooneys, the Messis, the Ronaldos of our world without caring a hoot about their own players. He has a point but we try to strike a balance and, surprisingly, even in doing so, we receive a lot of criticism that we are overplaying the Chinyamas of our world.
Mati varumbidzwe nani zve vakomana ava?

FC Platinum Fall Just Short
FC Platinum invested a lot into this Champions League campaign and anyone who tells you from their camp that losing in the first round was just fine, would be putting the truth on the sanctions list.
It’s clear the Zvishavane miners wanted more than just beating a clueless Swazi opposition still trapped in the Stone Age on their best day they will struggle to beat Karoi United.
They wanted a big scalp, they wanted to do like little Monomotapa who qualified for the group stages of the Champions League on their first shot, they wanted success and, in discussions at Platinum Lounge, they even believed they could win this tournament.
When you are a wealthy club like FC Platinum, there is nothing that holds you in your dreams and we have seen it in teams like Manchester City and Mamelodi Sundowns.
They all want greatness, powered by their deep financial resources, and coming second is not acceptable and that is why they are always ready to break the bank, to bring in big players at a huge cost, and — when things aren’t working — they can even forgive rebels like Tevez and make peace with an outcast like Ballotelli.
FC Platinum feel they are better than Monomotapa, by a distance, and they could do better than Monoz and that explained the investment in players like Ali Sadiki, Qadr Amin, Allan Gahadzikwa, the cream that could be found on the domestic Premiership.
But their campaign came to an end in Sudan on Saturday, although I believe it ended at Rufaro two weeks earlier, when they allowed El-Merreikh to score twice in a drawn match.
A 0-3 defeat in Sudan, with all goals coming in the first half, was depressing but the defensive frailties had shown against Green Mamba and once Norman Togara was sent off in Harare, the rightback position became a problem. Yes, FC Platinum were in their maiden dance with the Champions League but Tafadzwa Dube (Gunners), Daniel Veremu (Gunners), Gilbert Banda (Bosso), Zeph Ngodo (Bosso), Charles Sibanda (Motor Action), Allan Gahadzikwa (Motor Action), Thabani Kamusoko (Dynamos), have all played at this level before.
They will rightly cry foul over the Caf decision to bar them from using Mandava but it’s very unlikely they would have scored three goals without a reply there against El-Merreikh.
Yes, Donald Ngoma’s injury was cruel, and robbed them of a key man, but their defensive shape was bad and the opponents made them pay and a 0-3 defeat was as bad as it gets.
We should move away from this mindset that we can’t battle toe-to-toe with these North and West African teams and if Rwandan side, APR can go to Tunisia and be robbed, losing only after 12 minutes of added time, why are not fighting just as hard?
There will be more chances for FC Platinum and the challenge is for them not to lose their concentration, to be weighed down forever by this failed mission, so that they concentrate on conquering the home front first before they try to conquer Africa.
As they say in Polokwane, Lidoda Duvha, our day shall come.

Until We Score — The Tunisian Way
APR is a Rwandan army side and that they were in Tunisia last weekend, with a DeMbare trip to that part of the continent having looked likely, made their journey relevant to us.
It’s now common knowledge that APR, held 0-0 at home by Etoile du Sahel, led their Tunisian hosts in Sousse 2-1 when the 90 minutes of regulation time ended, and were well on course.
Moments into time added on, Etoile equalised but even then, APR were qualifying on the away goals rule but the home fans invaded the pitch and created all sorts of mayhem. When order had been restored, an APR player was sent off and the game went on and on and, by the time Etoile got the third goal, to qualify, 12 minutes of time added on had passed.
What a shame!
This week I wrote to a colleague from Rwanda, Bonnie Mugabe, who covers football for the New Times Publications, about their experience in Tunisia and what Dynamos should expect.
His response, which I publish below, made chilling reading.

The Letter From Rwanda
There is nothing different you will experience from what APR suffered. All North Africa teams and Caf are very corrupt, they will do anything to win at home.
If you playing the first leg in Tunis, that’s better because you will have a home advantage in the second leg but, if the second leg is in Tunis, I can’t say that there is a chance to walk away with a victory.
The mission was to beat up and even kill the APR contingent if they happened to beat ESS (Etoile du Sahel) and they walk home home alive if they lose.
And this was confirmed by a fellow journalist who had gotten (information) from the club’s sources. The match commissioner sent a report in favour of APR but Caf ignored it, requesting for proof, what proof can be there that is more important than the one of the match commissioner? The Ghanaian referee who officiated in a good way just said: “My friends, life is better this s*** of soccer.”
So my dear brother, I am fed up of African football, it is better we leave North African teams to play their football as we focus to organise ourselves and play good entertaining and fair football in our region. Kind regards and all the best of luck to Dynamos
Bonnie Mugabe
Senior Sports Journalist
The New Times Publications
P.O Box 4953
Kigali-Rwanda

The Beauty Of The Premiership
A good friend of mine has said while he likes watching Barcelona and Real Madrid, he finds it irritating to watch them play other teams in La Liga because, 95 percent of the time, the outcome is guaranteed they are almost like delayed games.
La Liga has the best two players in the world, Ronaldo and Messi, and some of the best artists and some of the best flowing football.
But, for suspense and intensity, it can’t beat the English Premiership and that is why little Wigan can blow open the championship race with a win over Manchester United.
That’s where its beauty and appeal lies.
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
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