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HE rose on the blind side and, for a moment, floated in the air, his imposing frame defying gravity, his gaze fixed on the ball as it spun towards him at pace, his Nike headband holding his dreadlocks in check, and ensuring he didn’t resemble a clone of Dutch maestro Ruud Gullit.

There was a touch of majesty about his flight, an air of conviction about his deadly intentions and, his aerial strength powered him past the human barrier that had been posted to block him and, at the right time, while still airborne, he adjusted his huge flying frame.

Suddenly, we all saw it, the possibilities that his massive leap had created and, even before he had made contact with the ball, a huge roar — pregnant with expectation — exploded inside the National Sports Stadium.

An hour had passed in this make-or-break contest, Knowledge Musona had teased our emotions and then delighted our spirits with that cheeky penalty, the panenka as executed by Lionel Messi, by Andre Pirlo and by Zinedine Zidane, but for all the beauty of that strike by the Smiling Assassin, the game remained on the edge.

After all, there was just a goal in it, something that the visitors could cancel out with one strike or, as we had seen in Swaziland a few days ago, with something going horribly wrong in our rearguard and we ended up putting the ball in the back of our net in that pressure-cooker.

We needed some kind of insurance, a second goal that would expel the demons of doubt wreaking havoc with our emotions, that would free us from the bondage of being latter-day doubting Thomases, clones of that apostle who created the art of doubting.

And, after that huge leap and the subsequent connection with the head, which sent the ball flying into the other corner of the nets for our second goal, with such power as if it had been struck by a boot, and with such precision as if it was a laser-guided missile, Costa Nhamoinesu gave us the insurance goal that our hearts had so desired.

For some of us, old-school fans of the Chicago Bulls, back in the days when this franchise represented everything beautiful about basketball, it was a throwback to that golden era in the ‘90s when we used to watch His Airness, the legendary Michael Jordan, the greatest basketballer of all time, repeatedly defying gravity as he soared to greatness.

As Costa sped away to celebrate in animated fashion, and fans inside the National Sports Stadium rose in unison to salute their favourite defender, greeting his goal with an thunderous roar, the sight of the Swazi ‘keeper and his defender, with their hands on their hips, looking helpless — if not dazed —as they searched for answers that would never come, told the entire story of the damage that Costa had just inflicted on the dreams of their nation.

If Musona’s cheeky goal had embarrassed them, the sheer brute force of Costa’s thunderous header provided the knockout blow and, from there on, there was no coming back for Sihlangu, their bravado shattered by the gulf in class that the two Warriors from Europe provided, a bitter reminder that — even on the occasions that they might punch above their weight as has been the case in these qualifiers — they remained a weaker football nation compared to us.

Three days earlier, Costa had provided them with a chilling warning, when he soared above their defence to meet a corner and then headed downwards, the bounce taking the ball past the ‘keeper, only for a defender, somehow pitched on the line, to make a desperate clearance by heading the ball onto the crossbar before it bounced back into play.

But that warning wasn’t heeded and, at the giant stadium on Easter Monday, they were punished by our man from Masvingo, who is now resident in the Czech Republic, where he rubs shoulders, in the trenches of European football warfare, with some of the finest names in world football.

Two weeks ago, UEFA paid glowing tribute to Costa for his standout performance at the Olympic Stadium in Rome as he inspired his club Sparta Prague in their 3-0 thrashing of Lazio at the Olympic Stadium in Rome to dump the Italian giants out of the Europa Cup and qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament.

“Sparta never looked comfortable in defence but, when heroics were called for in Rome, Zimbabwean Costa was their go-to man, the 30-year-old proving to be a saving challenge specialist,” UEFA said about our starman.

In that UEFA Europa Dream Team, from the second legs of the Round of 16 matches, Costa was named alongside such players like Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the reigning African Footballer of the Year, whose goals knocked out English side Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool’s Brazilian ace, Philip Coutinho, whose beautiful goal at Old Trafford sent a hopeless Manchester United crashing out.

And, on Easter Monday, Costa showed us he can deliver, for his country, as much as he does for his club, showed us that he is as passionate for his nation as he is for the club where he earns his living, showed us how much his European adventure has made him a very good player, showed us how he desperately wants to make up for the lost time, when he wasn’t playing for the Warriors, by playing a big part in our quest to qualify for the 2017 Nations Cup finals.

He took no prisoners, as he has always done since his late-blooming romance with the Warriors started, played every move wearing his heart on his sleeve, was a rock in the heart of defence and a threat in attack whenever we got any dead balls and provided the kind of leadership, in the backline, which we had last seen during the days of Ephraim “Rock of Gibraltar” Chawanda, Francis “Sandura” Shonhayi and John “JP” Phiri.

KATSANDE IS THE CAPTAIN AND COSTA IS THE LEADER

Willard Katsande might be the captain of the Warriors, and he hasn’t done badly in that role, but it’s very clear that, since Costa came onto the scene, there is a new sheriff in town, the leader of our Warriors, whose spirit embodies everything that our team represents, who plays the game at a higher level and is an asset both in defence and in attack.

In the past 10 years, Costa has worked his way from playing for an amateur Fifth Division side in Poland, KS Wisla Ustroniaka, to winning the league title in the Czech Republic, joining the elite club of Bruce Grobbelaar and Norman Mapeza as Zimbabwean players who featured in the UEFA Champions League and is now being rated as one of the best players in the UEFA Europa League campaign currently underway.

He doesn’t play for a Mickey Mouse European club but the most successful team in the history of football in the Czech Republic, winning the league title 36 times, qualifying for the semi-finals of the old European Cup (now the Champions League) in 1992 and which has produced a number of the country’s finest players who have gone on to make a name for them in world football.

They include Arsenal ‘keeper Peter Cech, midfielder Thomas Rosicky, former Manchester United winger Karel Poborsky and midfield star, Pavel Nedved, one of the greatest players of his general who starred at Lazio and Juventus in Italy and won the 2003 Ballon d’Or award.

Costa has battled racism, from his time in Poland to his time in the Czech Republic, and was recently racially abused by Lazio fans, noted for being racists, in their UEFA Europa Cup showdown but his mental strength, and big heart, have kept him going and, when you go through all that, and you still manage to succeed, as he has done, it shows just the character needed for leadership.

Katsande is a good captain, and under his leadership, the team is doing well and, as they always say in this game, why change something that is working very well.

But our skipper was found wanting on Easter Monday, as Marshal Mudehwe struggled in a horror 45 minutes for the FC Platinum winger, with every poor touch and move attracting hostility from an impatient crowd used to seeing Khama Billiat playing that role, and who taunted him from as early as the 15th minute, calling for his substitution.

Given that Mudehwe was a late call-up, after Callisto Pasuwa felt in Swaziland that he needed to rest Billiat, who complained of fatigue, he probably — unlike his teammates who had been in camp and had gone to that tour of duty — wasn’t in the right frame of mind to explode, just like that, in a game where there was a lot of stake.

I’m one of those who believe in Mudehwe, one of those who feel that this diminutive winger, given time and support, will finally come good and play a big role for his country and while his first-half performance on Easter Monday was a shocker, these things happen in football and, as they say in this game, form is temporary and class is permanent.

What I expected, from our captain, was for him to play his part, as the leader on the field, to constantly encourage his teammate, who was being swallowed by the harsh criticism that was coming from the stands, and make him feel that he belonged to the team, belonged to the cause and he should just settle down and play his football.

But, sadly, I didn’t see that from Katsande and the only occasion that I saw a teammate urge Mudehwe to stop worrying about the things that he was doing wrong, and the hostility that was coming from the stands, and concentrate on his game, playing the role that his coach wanted him to play, playing his normal game, was when Marvellous Nakamba — a pillar of strength in our midfield — urged him to keep trying after a pass had gone stray and the crowd were baying for his ejection.

Imagine if Katsande, who is the leader, had been doing that, from the very moment Mudehwe got it wrong, and then pleading with the crowd, his fans, to stop attacking the winger, asking them to give him time to settle, there would certainly have been a reaction from the stands because they have a lot of respect for the Kaizer Chiefs man and things could have been different for Marshal.

KHAMA, KHAMALDINHO, WHAT AN ACE IN THE PACK

Last week, in my preview for the Warriors’ game in Swaziland, I predicted that in the compact Somhlolo Stadium, where space is crammed and width is sacrificed, the likes of Khama Billiat were unlikely to make as big an impact as we like them to when they wear the golden shirt of the Warriors.

“If there is a concern for the Warriors then it could come from the compactness of the stadium where width, something that the likes of Billiat need to thrive in, is sacrificed and the artificial surface — which has been battered for years — is not the kind of football Mecca where the best games, of playing the ball on the ground, can be exhibited,” I predicted in my humble submission.

And, true to expectations, our diminutive forward did not get the freedom that he wanted in Swaziland, although some people put it down to fatigue, but once he was back in the wide spaces of the National Sports Stadium, where he can roam without boundaries, he became unstoppable and those Sihlangu defenders just didn’t know how to deal with him.

Credit should go to Callisto Pasuwa, who doesn’t seem to get the respect that he deserves from some quarters who continue to criticise and doubt him, for keeping his ace winger fresh — after the battering that his body had taken in Super Diski and on the continent in the Champions League — and then throwing him into the fray when the Swazi defenders were showing signs of having been drained by covering the spaces in the big stadium.

For Pasuwa to make that big call, to give Khama a break, in such a huge game and at home where the fans wanted to see their star forward from the word go, was not only a brave decision but showed that this is a coach who knows what he is doing and, while we might not give him the credit he deserves, he really is going places.

And Khama rewarded his coach with a goal and an assist, swinging in the cross that Costa powered home with that great header, after the winger had been fouled down the right, fooling his marker as if he wanted to keep moving forward and, then, suddenly twisting his diminutive frame to cut inside and leave his marker with no option but to floor him.

Khama also earned a free-kick, in dangerous territory, when he drifted into the centre and appeared set to meet Musona’s cross, and the Belgium-based forward was unlucky when his full-bloodied shot, from the dead ball, beat the wall but drew an incredible save from the ‘keeper.

Khamaldhino had two other decent chances to score, first when Mushekwi found him inside the box, and then, after a fine exchange of passes with the impressive Kuda Muhachi freed him down the right, he chose to shoot when he could have taken another step forward and thrust himself into a very good position.

As long as Khama remains in good shape, avoids injuries in what will be a very long season for Mamelodi Sundowns, we have every right to believe that, come June against Malawi, we have a very good chance of winning and, possibly, that could be the game that takes us to Gabon.

WITH PLAYERS LIKE NAKAMBA NOTHING SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE

There was something special about the way Nakamba controlled our midfield on Easter Monday and, like Costa, showed that he is immensely benefiting from playing at the top level of football in the world and his pass, into space, to find Mahachi in the box, was the stuff that we have been crying for.

Even though he was making his home debut, for the Warriors, in a pressure game, he never let in affect him, and never appeared to put any foot wrong, reading the game well, his distribution was fantastic, the way he kept committed to his role was impressive and, given his age, he will get better and better with time.

We have a crop of youngsters right now who could make a very competitive, if not formidable national football team, and it was refreshing to see Mahachi fight his way back into the big picture — with a beautiful show — while Evans Rusike justified his selection.

The ‘keeper, Tatenda Mukuruva, is one of those youngsters and, when called to perform, he did do with distinction.

But the Warriors’ story on Easter Monday will not be complete without praising Hardlife Zvirekwi, who was brilliant on the right side of our defence, and turned back the hands of time to an era when we all believed he was set for greatness before suddenly losing his way.

Centreback Elisha Muroiwa might not be a colourful character but he sticks to the basics and, for a man who was playing Division One football just two years ago, his rise has been phenomenal — a tough, old-fashioned no-nonsense man who just repels the attacks.

These are exciting times for the Warriors and thanks to everyone who made it such a huge party on Easter Monday, the fans for believing and coming in their thousands and reminding us of the carnival of the Dream Team era, the ministers who came to lend their support, Philip Chiyangwa for showing Cuthbert Dube what a real ZIFA president should do, always in the battles with his people.

And, of course, Sir Wicknell, the man himself, and how he loved the party and how the fans and the players appreciated what he is doing for the team.

Yes, together, we can do it, forget about all those prophets of doom.

To God Be The Glory!

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooooooooo!

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