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000 people, and brought the Swinging Sixties to a fitting close.
It’s not only Woodstock that binds me spiritually to music because so much happened in ’69 you would be forgiven to believe the global music family was celebrating the arrival of our generation the following year.
The Jackson 5 released their debut album and Michael Jackson became a global child star overnight, Earth Wind and Fire was formed and Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Steve Winwood linked up to form the group Blind Faith.
The legendary Beatles performed in public, as a group, for one last time, with a rooftop show in London, Led Zeppelin’s debut album was released, Chicago also released their first album and Elvis Presley returned to live performances in Las Vegas.
Diana Ross and The Supremes released their final song together, “Someday We’ll Be Together”, and we will be forgiven to believe that the songstress was singing about us, those who were on their way into this world.
Music and football have been Siamese twins for ages and the 2010 World Cup organisers in South Africa turned on the tempo, in this relationship, with their catchy theme song, “Waka Waka”, done by beautiful Colombian singer, Shakira. You can’t talk about the great Liverpool, the most successful football club in English football history, without mentioning their theme song, “You Will Never Walk Alone”.
In the countdown to the most successful period of our Warriors, during their successful campaign to qualify for the 2004 Nations Cup finals, Jonathan Moyo and his musical project had the entire nation singing, and dancing, to their catchy lyrics of “Go Warriors, Go, Go Warriors, Score Warriors, Score, Score Warriors.”
That the initial “Go Warriors Go!” catchy phrase, like many such words and phrases that have become the language of our football, including the classic Asiagate, originated from our Sports Desk, gave us immense pride.
Oliver Mtukudzi doesn’t come across as a football fan and his appearance at our stadiums are few and far between and I can’t remember a hit song he composed, about the national game, in his marathon career.
Zexie Manatsa, whose son married Tuku’s daughter Selmor, actually did a hit song about football, remember the lyrics, Tamirira, Dynamos igowese, Moses wagowesa here, Makepekepe Shaisa Mufaro, Makepekepe, Shaisa Mufaro, Gore riye vakatora makombe, makombe we Rosebowl, Shaisa Mufaro?
Or the classic lyrics about Zimbabwe Saints, when this football team represented greatness, when its nickname Chauya Chikwata spelt trouble for their hosts, when superstars like Ephraim “Rock of Gibraltar” Chawanda, Henry “Bully” McKop and Joseph Machingura used to wear their colours?
Remember them, I bet you do, because this is timeless stuff — Hecho Chikwata, Hecho Chauya, Ukadyiwa neSaints wadyiwa nebhobho! Great stuff!
Mtukudzi wasn’t my favourite musician when I was growing up in a society where you had to make choices all the time, be it in music or football, and like George Bush just after the 9/11 attacks on the United States — you were either with us or without us.
Thomas Mapfumo was my favourite, by default actually, because I was afraid of rebelling against what my father wanted and Mtukudzi, no matter how good his music was then, just represented the opposition side that we didn’t like and judgment wasn’t based on quality of his works but the identity of the man singing those words.
But the beauty about growing old is the freedom it gives you to make choices, not based on what the old man wants, but on what you want as a person.
And, with time I warmed up to Mtukudzi and, but for a brief period at the turn of the ’90s when the Bundu Boys swept me away, he has been the standout local musician for me in the past two decades.
Last Friday, Mutukudzi hosted a big birthday bash, spiced up by the presence of his international friends like Ringo, for his fans and more than 10 000 fans, paying a minimum of US$10 for a ticket, poured into the Glamis Arena to celebrate with the superstar.
In the year that more than 20 000 Zimbabweans turned up at the National Sports Stadium to bid farewell to Benjani Mwaruwari, thousands of people turned up at Tuku’s 60th birthday bash to celebrate with a musician who has come to represent greatness.
What can’t be disputed is that, as a people, we have a passion to honour our heroes, be it in sport or music, and that an estimated 10 000 fans, paying at least US$10 each with a VIP ticket costing US$60, could make their way into Tuku’s birthday bash, was testimony of that passion.
What can’t be disputed is that in music, as in sport, we are a people who want to see our representatives scale dizzy heights of success and when they do, as is the case with Tuku, we can pay a cool US$60 just to buy a ticket to celebrate with him on his 60th birthday.
What can’t be questioned is that as a nation, we have this incredible love for our heroes, be it in sport or music, and that the Warriors, when they are hitting a successful patch, turn into one of the top five most supported teams on the continent, in terms of average attendance figures they draw to their home games, is testimony of that undiluted love. That’s what we do best, isn’t it, standing together as one united nation in honour of our heroes?
And, for all the reservations that some of us had about Rahman Gumbo’s appointment as Warriors coach, we have embraced him, in his hour of triumph, in our moment in the sunshine, because he has taken our nation within just 90 minutes of a place at the 2013 Nations Cup finals.
We are blessed as a nation because our musicians, like Tuku, have the best fans in the world, guys who live in a country whose economy is struggling just to get into its groove after years of stagnation, but who, on the singer’s special day, can folk out a cool US$60 for a ticket to see him sing at his birthday party.
We are blessed as a nation because our footballers, like Khama, Knowledge, Denver and Masimba Mambare, have the best fans in the world.
Guys who live in a nation where civil servants, the majority of the workforce, barely get enough to make it to the other pay day, but who, on Match Day, can part with US$10, for the cheapest ticket, to cheer them in a crucial Nations Cup qualifier.
Itai Musengeyi, The Chronicle Editor, told me that Bulawayo came to a standstill on Wednesday as the City of Kings celebrated Highlanders’ rise back to the top of the championship race and bitter rivals Dynamos’ fall at Barbourfields at the hands of Chicken Inn.
Yes, Itai, that’s exactly what we are as a nation, a people who love their football teams, a bond passed from father to son, an expression we aren’t ashamed of displaying, the simple reason why experts say South Africa is a richer football nation while Zimbabwe is a better football nation. Even in music, we honour our heroes, and if you doubt that, ask Tuku or Josh Hozheri, his promoter.

Rahman’s Dance With Greatness
Rahman Gumbo is only 90 minutes away from writing his name among the greatest coaches to take charge of our Warriors by taking them to the Nations Cup finals.
Only two coaches, both local, have done it before — the legendary Sunday Chidzambwa breaking the barriers in 2003 and ending a 23-year wait for us and Charles Mhlauri taking over the baton for the 2006 Nations Cup finals where, for good measure, we beat a World Cup-bound Ghana in our only win in three group games.
There was a lot of concern when Rahman was given the job. And his case wasn’t helped, too, by a difficult start to a campaign where his Warriors lost their tie against Burundi in Bujumbura, were beaten at home in an opening World Cup qualifier for the first time in 24 years, and drew against Mozambique a week later.
But Rahman has cheered up some of his biggest critics with the way he has responded to the challenges. And while the jury is still out over the way he has treated playmaker Ovidy Karuru and whether he will have the last laugh at the end of this drama, you can’t help but admire the strength he has demonstrated while trapped in a quagmire.
Since that boob in Mozambique when his comments, in the heat of the moment about Ovidy unsettled a lot of people, Rahman has handled all his national team commitments with a level of diplomacy that has made him such a supportable man. He has refused to be drawn into the silly politics that continue to stalk our game and has concentrated on what is best for his team and his country and, even when others in the organisation would have preferred to go to Angola without Knowledge, he has stuck with the striker.
By doing so he has thrust the pressure back on the forward, to repay the trust that his coach has shown in him amid in all this web of controversy, and the Smiling Assassin simply has to score in Angola, for the coach who has invested so much trust in him, and for the nation that believes in him.
It’s that special goal, that one goal, which we need, which in the end might just prove the difference, in a game that is set to be tough for us defensively but one that we can emerge with everything that our hearts have desired, if we can just be a little courageous.
We might not need that goal, at all, but it’s too risky a gamble to believe that the Angolans, with everything to play for at home in a 90-minute game that either opens or closes the door from an appearance at the 2013 Nations Cup finals, will not pound us from all angles and get two goals.
That is why our insurance, when you really think about it, our salvation, when you really analyse the situation, lies in us getting that priceless away goal, scoring just like what we did in Cape Verde, in Liberia and in Burundi, in the past year or so.
While the majority of the feedback that I got from the Question of the Week, which dwelt with whether Rahman should, or should not tamper with the team that played in the first leg at Rufaro, favoured changes to the team, I don’t subscribe to that.
Neither do I subscribe to the idea of bringing in a whole team of new faces, who have been kept on the international sidelines for the past year because of this Asiagate monster, simply on the flawed belief that their addition will strengthen the team in Angola.
The fact that the Warriors who played the first leg at Rufaro won comfortably, because that is what a 3-1 scoreline is, simply complicates the situation because anyone whom you bring along, especially those who haven’t been part of this qualifying show from day one, will be under severe pressure.
Pressure because, if the team loses in Angola, and for one reason or another, these new additions make a mistake, something they are likely to do after a year away from the team, they will be slaughtered not only by the media but by the fans and our football leadership.
Such players are unlikely to play with the freedom they need to express themselves fully because there are still a lot of questions going on in their minds, even in their moment of freedom from accusations of match-fixing, and you don’t want such players to be plunged into the final battle away from home.
These fellows have spent a year living in hell and even their performance, at their club sides, also tell the story of the mental torture that they have suffered and to suggest that they can be thrown into the final battle, just days after being cleared from these allegations, would be suicidal.
Isn’t this the same Zifa that told us that players who would be cleared of this match-fixing madness would be sent to a rehabilitation exercise to prepare them for another dance with the national team? What has happened to that?
Given that we are playing Angola just a week from now, does it provide enough time for such rehabilitation for these players to be brought back into the fold and play in the final battle without putting them under so much pressure they will crumble in Luanda?
Rahman Gumbo, to his credit, showed us in the first leg at Rufaro, against all odds, that he can assemble a team that can compete with these Angolans. And now that he has Musona and Nengomasha, who have played for him since day one of this qualifying show, and can add Masimba Mambare to help him in the striking positions, I don’t believe we should be piling unnecessary pressure on him to tamper with his team, not at this very, very late stage.

A Premiership Battle Made In Heaven
Last year, the battle between Dynamos and FC Platinum for the Premiership title was a riveting one, decided on the final day, with both teams ending with the same number of points but only separated by goal difference.
It is a measure of their consistency that, after the energy-sapping race of last year, the Glamour Boys are still in the trenches fighting another battle royale against Bosso for this year’s title.
You have to take a bow to these Glamour Boys for their fighting spirit because last year was never easy, battling against an inspired quality opponent loaded with immense resources, and that they never went top of the table until the 29th game of the season, which they won against FC Platinum, puts the intensity of that battle into context.
That 24 games later, they are still there in the running, just a point behind the leaders in the championship race, is testimony of their consistency, as a team that battles long and hard, year in and year out, for league championship honours. It’s easy to forget, isn’t it, that Dynamos were champions in 2007, runners-up to Monomotapa in 2008, runners-up to Gunners in 2009, runners-up to Motor Action in 2010, champions in 2011 and, with seven games to go before the 2012 race comes to an end, in prime position to be either champions or runners-up again.
In the past six years, they have been either number one or number two, and if that is not consistency, in terms of fighting for championship honours, then the word consistency has probably lost its meaning. DeMbare lost at Chicken Inn on Wednesday but, for those who have been watching them play in their last four matches, it was something that was coming because their form has been atrocious.
If there isn’t a sudden swing in their form, I don’t see this Dynamos team also winning in Hwange, especially given all the politics that will mar that match after what happened at Rufaro and how the coalminers’ case ended up being hijacked from all corners by some with bigger interests. But Callisto Pasuwa and his men have to stand up to the challenge, for them to be champions, and their advantage is that they have been in this situation for a very long time, they have been tested before, as late as last year, and they should know how to respond.
Anyone who believes that DeMbare’s loss at Chicken Inn, and a possible drop of points in Hwange, means Bosso will be champions is dreaming because, with the way things are going, this race is just beginning and there will be many twists and turns.
Kevin Kaindu deserves the Coach of the Year, even in the highly unlikely event that his team collapses and loses everything, because what he has done, in his first year at such a huge football franchise like Bosso, is very, very special.
Twenty-three games, without a loss, going to Hwange, coming to Harare repeatedly, going to Zvishavane twice, going to Buffaloes, and all the time avoiding defeat, is indeed, very, very special, and let’s take a bow to this young man for the brilliant way he has turned Bosso around.
This was a football franchise that had lost its soul in the past six years but the arrival of this God-fearing man, an ultimate professional who concentrates on his job and is open to the media, has changed everything and suddenly Highlanders now look like the Bosso that we all know.
Ithimu yezwe lonke, the nation’s team, they used to sing at Barbourfields during the good days of Zenzo Moyo and Thabani Masawi at the turn of the millennium, and in the year that Tuku celebrated his 60th birthday, with a big birthday bash, you can hear them singing again in the City of Kings. Whoever wins this contest, between Highlanders and Dynamos, will be worthy champions and they would have, indeed, earned their stripes.
If Bosso beat Monomotapa today, especially against a punishing schedule that has seen them travel to Hwange in midweek and back on the road to Harare, then, maybe then, they can start seeing the Promised Land on the horizon.
But think about Round 26, when the giants meet at Rufaro, think about the party spoilers like Chicken Inn who are waiting in ambush, think about the way the games have become so close that Dynamos needed a penalty shootout to beat Quelaton and Bosso needed a goal deep in added time to beat Hwange, then take time to analyse the situation. You will see there will be twists and turns and points, inevitably, will be dropped.

They Are Singing At Makepekepe
There was a huge roar at the National Sports Stadium on Wednesday when news filtered through that Chicken Inn had scored at Barbourfields and, given all the abuse they have suffered at the hands of their bitter rivals this season, you can forgive the CAPS United fans for their excessive celebrations.
The Green Machine is back and suddenly there is life in the monster and while their victory over Rangers was routine, their win over FC Platinum at Mandava was excellent and doused any doubts about their return to form.
I stand to be corrected, because I am only human, but I don’t believe there is anyone, in the domestic Premiership today, who is playing on the right side of the midfield at the same level as Hardlife Zvirekwi, the soul of the Green Machine revival. Take time to watch him and you will probably agree with me that, on the basis of form and the quality of performance, this little dynamo is the best in his role in the domestic Premiership today.
The way he created CAPS United’s second goal on Wednesday, fooling his marker not once, not twice but three times, to lay a sitter for Kawondera to score his first goal, was the kind of stuff that we watch now and again on television in the major leagues of Europe.
No wonder why it’s not only Tuku who is singing happy songs at the moment. Even the Green Machine is singing loud and clear.
To God Be The Glory!
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

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