Zimpapers Logo

Noone cared about us, the odd black guys in a bar packed with noisy white guys who were talking about nothing but rugby, with an accent that was hard to grasp, and while we talked about football, they just could not get enough of the British Lions and the Springboks.
Beer, as usual, flowed freely with the rugby fans seemingly in the mood to outdo each other, in terms of the number of lagers downed that night, while I joined my guest in enjoying the tea served by the good and kind waiter, we all called Sekuru, who said he hailed from Malawi.

This City Lodge, which was to be my home for the next two weeks, is just a few minutes drive from the Oliver Tambo International Airport and, now and again, the deafening sound of the jumbos, or super jumbos, as they landed or took off, crashed through our conversation.

I had arrived at the City Lodge three days earlier, on an official tour of duty to cover the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup, which was being used by the world football controlling body as a dry run of the historic 2010 Fifa World Cup, to be held on African soil for the first time.
I had found a Johannesburg reeling from one of its worst winter seasons and, having come from sunny Harare where it’s virtually summer all year round, a big part of me was longing for the comforts of home rather than the excitement that came with covering a tournament that featured the Boys From Brazil.

The arrival of my guest cheered my spirits and blew away the pain of loneliness, which had plagued me since my arrival at the City Lodge, and we chose a good corner in the bar to have our tea and a conversation that would be centred on football.
Edzai Kasinauyo, my good guest that night, had lived in South Africa for a long time, since arriving in the ‘90s as a midfielder with a useful left foot that carried the weight of many a team’s attack, with a vision that could be trusted to find teammates in scoring positions and with a passion for teamwork that was extra-ordinary.

He had always been different, since I first saw him at Blackpool when Ndochi were still that colourful team that used to woo us to their games, sometimes just to see their latest imported kit – which was miles ahead of their time – or the branded suits the players would be wearing before the game.
Edzai impressed you with his discipline, always trying to do the right things, and, crucially, his enduring passion to be better next week than what he was in the last match that he had played, even when it was clear

that he had been the outstanding player in the game.
I was, therefore, hardly surprised when his best friend, during those days, became George Mbwando, another of the few players at Ndochi who was dedicated to his game so much he would remain at the training ground, long after others had left, having shooting drills.

I always felt then that George was not naturally talented, even though for a centre forward then, his beautiful first touch was brilliant, and he used his height well, dominating the aerial battles, and he was also gifted with a pace to burn, which all combined to help him score goals.
But George later proved me wrong, and the more that he worked on his game, the better that he became and, one memorable day in Lusaka in 1995, he was rewarded for everything that he had put into his game when he scored a stunning hattrick as Blackpool shocked Kabwe Warriors 3-1 at the Independence Stadium.

From that day, George came to be known simply as Zambia.
But if I had reservations about George as a forward who could be trusted, which fears were convincingly proved unfounded that day in Lusaka, I have to say that I found George the defender a better player and, in that wingback role, the boy Zambia showed his true football qualities. That both Edzai and George made it into foreign clubs was the least of the things that surprised me because I could see it, with the extra effort they put into their game, that they were destined for a level where the game was played professionally and where it rewarded its players accordingly. So, anyway, here we were in the City Lodge bar, with my guest

Edzai, and we moving close to the end of our meeting, which had touched on a lot of issues related to football back home, when he introduced the subject of an unheralded player, from home, who was signing for Kaizer Chiefs.

Edzai’s eyes sparkled, in the candle-lit surroundings of the City Lodge bar, as he told me that the teenage boy that he was bringing to South Africa to sign for Kaizer Chiefs, was the best raw football talent that he had seen in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia or any part of Southern Africa in a generation.
What?

Yes, said Edzai, better than any of the players I could think of and, incredibly, he told me that he had needed just one match, where he had seen him in action, to come to the conclusion that, if this was a diamond exploration exercise, he had just plunged into Chiadzwa.

I looked Edzai straight in the eye, to try and find any hint of mischief, and found nothing and, after all, this is a man who had always made his judgments with a sober mind and who, crucially, was also speaking with a sober mind after just a cup or two of tea.

April 1 had long come and gone and, in the depths of that winter, jokes were the last thing on our minds and, as much as I found it difficult to believe, Edzai was saying something that was coming from deep down his heart and, for the sake of the progress of the meeting, I had to swallow his gospel.
So, in that City Lodge bar in Johannesburg, I was given the first expert appraisal of Knowledge Musona, the boy I had known for some years now as a rising forward, who used to carry the burden for the provision of goals for the Young Warriors, and had done reasonably well at the Cosafa Youth tournaments.

But Kevin Mushangazhike had done even better, in such tournaments, joined Chiefs, initially exploded on the big stage, but then, just like a shooting star, faded into the horizon without any trace.
Edzai told me this guy was not Kevin Mushangazike, he was far better than anything that I had seen come out of Zimbabwe, in terms of football talent, since King Peter arrived on the scene at the turn of the ‘90s.

---

The X-Factor That Makes Musona Special
Two years down the line, I always find myself going down memory lane, to that night in the City Lodge bar, where Edzai Kasinauyo first told me of the special package that was coming into Zimbabwean football.

It’s pointless to try and introduce Knowledge Musona today, whether you are in South Africa where he has made a huge impression in the colours of Kaizer Chiefs, or you are in Zimbabwe, were his fan base has grown beyond imagination.

Just about everyone in Zimbabwe today, who cares about football, knows about the Smiling Assassin, the man whose goals have single-handedly kept the Warriors in the race for the 2014 Nations Cup finals in a complicated battle that will be decided on the final weekend.

Suddenly, Musona has become the Warriors’ talisman, the man with the X-Factor who makes a difference to the team and, without him, they are pretty ordinary, pretty barren upfront, pretty average, pretty toothless, pretty sterile.
That was all evident in Bamako, when they took the Malians in their backyard, and while their defensive solidity ensured that there would be only one goal for the Eagles of Mali in their backyard, the lack of a cutting edge upfront meant that there was nothing for the Warriors to hit back with.
Musona was injured and missed the trip and, predictably, the Warriors didn’t score in Bamako and lost 0-1.

He had been on the trip to Liberia, a few months earlier, and in Monrovia he was provided with a difficult chance and, in one sublime movement, showed his unique talent to suddenly lose the opposition, create a pocket of space where it didn’t exist and strike before the opposition recovered.

That goal should have been enough to win us all three points but we panicked, in a shocking defensive display in a moment of madness, and we were punished when we naively believed that the referee would be there to protect our goalkeeper.
And, so it came to that swim-or-sink game against Mali and, cometh the hour, cometh the man and Musona did not only score a beauty for an opener, have a powerful header incredibly saved by the ‘keeper, send another header wide from a good position but also scored the killer second goal.

That he could make the big decision, 16 days before his 21st birthday, to take the decisive penalty, in the cauldron of that stadium, before that expectant home crowd and with all that pressure, spoke volumes about the unique character of this young footballer.
Yes, he had taken penalties before bigger crowds, there were about 90 000 fans when he converted a penalty at Soccer City for Kaizer Chiefs against Orlando Pirates.

But, even though there were about 40 000 people at Rufaro that day, this was a bigger challenge because virtually everyone in that ground wanted him to score and, carrying the burden for your country is bigger than carrying the burden for your club.

In club games, there will always be a second chance, there will soon be another league game, another cup game, you name it, for one to make amends just in case things go horribly wrong.

That day, at Rufaro, there was no second chance for Musona, for the Warriors, for the fans who were backing them inside the stadium, for the fans who were backing them at home and for the fans who were backing them from outside our borders.

If Musona missed this chance, and the game ended tied, then that was it for us in the race for the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers, a door being closed right in our face, right in the stadium that we call our home and right in the city that we call our capital.

So the hearts pounded faster, 40 000 of them, reaching a crescendo as he started his short run, then the save from the goalkeeper, the disbelief that followed, the euphoria that exploded among the Malians, the tears in the eyes of Ovidy Karuru and the emptiness, and lifelessness, just about everywhere.

---

Home can really be hostile sometimes.
But Musona has this X-Factor about him, he cannot be wrong, something must have happened, the ‘keeper must have moved, you know, there had to be something wrong about the whole thing and, boom, the assistant referee made the big call, his flag was up.

The ‘keeper had moved and the penalty had to be retaken. Musona had the option, given that it wasn’t a penalty shootout, to ask someone to take the penalty.
But we all saw what happened, when referee Daniel Bennett decided that the penalty be retaken, with Musona being the first to demand that he be given the ball.

Some in the crowd doubted him but Musona was determined to make a difference and, as his effort found its target, the fans released their emotions and embraced their new star into their hearts.
Benjani, watching from the VIP Enclosure, saluted the hero and, in his moment of glory, Musona ran to the ball boy on the left side, took him in his arms and together, the present and the future, celebrated the golden moment for their country.

The Knowledge Musona era had arrived.
For a long time now, we had watched his X-Factor on television, being displayed in the football fields of South Africa, in the gold and black colours of the Amakhosi, all for the cause of his club, and we had all loved it, we had loved him and loved Kaizer Chiefs, even if Bobby Motaung was a bully who had stopped Tinashe Nengomasha from going to Europe.

Now, the show was on our soil, the theatre was our own stadium, the hero was our own boy from Norton, and – where we had embraced King Peter at the National Sports Stadium in that 4-1 win over Bafana Bafana, we now embraced Prince Knowledge, the boy who would be King.

Ovidy Karuru had played so well that afternoon he was clearly the man-of-the-match.
But the golden boy, who had made the decisive touch that made the difference, remained Knowledge Musona, the man whose X-Factor had thrown the Malians into a haze, leaving them confused as he ran into space on the left to score a beauty in the first half and ending their resistance with the killer second in the dying stages.

---

Go Well Smiling Assassin
It’s not every year that you get a Zimbabwean player breaking into one of the big leagues of European football – the English Premiership, the Spanish La Liga, the Italian Serie A and the German Bundesliga.
Five years have passed since the last one did it when Benjani broke into the English Premiership after signing for Portsmouth, in a move that was endorsed by Arsene Wenger, who gave Harry Redknapp the go-ahead to sign the Zimbabwean when the then Pompey boss sought his opinion.

It’s a good life playing in the big leagues and I remember the day we were asked to go to the Cairo International Airport one night in January 2006, when I was covering the Nations Cup finals, because Benjani was touching down that day to join the Warriors.
He came by private jet, chartered by his team, and there were just two passengers on that special flight, Benjani and his manager Ralph Nkomo.

Five years down the line, Musona has broken into the big league and we will soon have a Zimbabwean playing in the Bundesliga, possibly scoring goals against mighty Bayern Munich and getting profiled by the influential Bild newspaper.

It had become increasingly clear, in the past year, that Musona’s talents were crying for a bigger and more competitive league than Super Diski.
He didn’t win the Player of the Season award last year, in a vote that is sickeningly partisan and usually goes to a South African and not a foreigner, but there was no doubting that Musona was the standout player in Super Diski.

Yes, his star might have faded when he was injured but, clearly, by then he had done far better than what Thulani Serero did in a strong finish to the campaign that swayed the vote in his favour.

It’s fair to suggest that Chiefs would have won the South African Premiership, if Musona had not been injured during the season, because – in his absence – they were not the same oiled machine that they were with the Smiling Assassin in their ranks.
But you can’t keep a good man down and, today, Musona is bound for Germany where he will be in the spotlight of the Bundesliga, where he will rub shoulders with the majority of the players who helped Germany reach the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup.

We all wish Musona well because his story, from a poor boy in Norton who lost his father when he was young, to a good life of the Bundesliga, makes very refreshing reading.
We wish Musona well because we believe that he will be a good ambassador for his country, that he will make a very big impression about Zimbabwean football, that he will score goals that will remind everyone in

Germany, in particular, and Europe, in general, of the rich football talent abundant in this country.
We wish Musona well because he has been the model footballer, the man who has let his game do the talking rather than let his lifestyle, for good or bad, be the big subject of the headlines in the newspapers.

Nigel Munyati, the Zifa board member who has a big interest in the Aces Youth Academy that helped Musona during a crucial stage of his development, was right when he said that this was a landmark deal for Zimbabwean football.

“We helped him into being the player that he is today and we are delighted that our efforts have been fruitful,” said Munyati.
“I will also want to pay tribute to Bobby Motaung because he had foresight when he identified Musona after seeing him playing in a First Division match back home.
“I believe that the route that Musona has taken will inspire other boys.”

That’s the big point Nigel.
It’s the effect that such a move has on other boys, growing up in Norton, Gokwe and Kariba, making them believe that their dreams can also come true, that this game can change their lives, that they can also turn into superstars just like Ronaldo or Robinho.

Hoffeinheim sent their sports director Ernst Tanner to Johannesburg this week, when it emerged that Glasgow Celtic were trying to sneak in and capture their man, and on Wednesday night the deal was sealed.
When Edzai Kasinauyo and Bobby Motaung went to watch that Division One game, which changed everything for Musona, they went there driven by hope that they could unearth a diamond.

After 90 minutes, they were certain they had found their man and Bobby took the risk, thanks to the feedback he was also getting from Edzai, to plunge into the deal. Two years down the line, a top German club was sending one of their top officials, not to assess Musona by taking notes in a match where the Smiling Assassin would be playing, but to put pen to paper.
That’s power!

---

How Many Other Musonas Are Out There?
While we celebrate Knowledge Musona’s move to the Bundesliga, and wish him all the best, we should spare a thought for scores of other players, some probably better than the Smiling Assassin, who – because they never got a chance – will never make it.

Yes, there are a number of players right now, dotted across our country, who are of a high standard but have failed to make the giant leap because Edzai kasinauyo was not there for them when they needed a shoulder to lean on.
You speak to Rodwell Dhlakama, who coached Musona during his time in the Zimbabwe Under-17 national team, and he will tell you that there were certainly better players than his Number 9 during that time.

In the game where Musona opened a door for Kaizer Chiefs to have an interest in him, by scoring three goals in the second half during a Cosafa junior tournament in South Africa, he had to come from the bench.
You talk to the teachers at Lord Malvern and other schools, and they will tell you that there were certainly a number of players whom they all considered to be technically better than Knowledge.

But, at a crucial moment of their careers, many of them did not get the chance to play for Kaizer Chiefs or any of the teams that could have given them a platform to explode and attract the interests of clubs like Hoffenheim.

Some of them got frustrated, because at a sensitive stage of their career noone was there to help them, and – depressed by the pressures that come with the sinking feeling of believing that the world is against them – they lost their magic and, before they knew it, the star had faded.

Others just decided to pursue other careers, divorced from the game that promised so much for them, and either got lost during the madness of change money, or burning money as they called it, or simply disappeared into the cities of South Africa.

For every Musona who has made it, count about five others – either as good as the Smiling Assassin or even better – who have failed to make it because, at a crucial stage, there was noone to give them a helping hand.

For every Khama Billiat who has made it, count about five or more players – either as good as Khamaldinho or even better – who have failed to make it because, at a crucial stage of their careers, there was noone to give them a helping hand.

Just imagine the scores of players who showcased their skills at the M and H Schools tournament at Mucheke last weekend and the reality that the majority of them might not make it, even into Super Diski, because they won’t get the chance to make the breakthrough.

With South African football likely to effect changes, next season, which will limit the number of foreigners coming into Super Diski, it’s very clear that the opportunities for the Zimbabweans to play in a league, whose television coverage can put their talents into context, will become few and far between.

With the local Premiership still being shunned by SuperSport and ZBC not showing their games on television either, it’s going to be tougher and tougher for emerging local talent to make the breakthrough.
We all want Musona to be the beginning, and not the end, of an exodus of Zimbabwean football stars into Europe’s big leagues where, thanks to the advanced coaching and training methods they become better players and, which in turn, translates into a competitive national team for us.

But the reality is that it might not be the case and the journey that Musona has just started might prove hard, if not impossible, for others who are still in this country.

---

Who Are TSG 1899 Hoffenheim?

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim are a German Bundesliga side based in Hoffeinheim, a suburb of Sisheim, Baden-Wurtemberg.
In 2007 the club decided to adopt the use of the short form name 1899 Hoffenheim in place of the traditional TSG Hoffenheim.
A Fifth Division side in 2000, the club made a remarkable advance to the top-flight Bundesliga in 2008 with the financial backing of alumnus and software mogul Dietmar Hopp.
The modern-day club was formed in 1945, when gymnastics club Turnverein Hoffenheim (founded 1 July 1899) and football club FuBballverein Hoffeinheim (founded 1921) merged.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the club was an obscure local amateur side playing in the Eighth division Baden-Württemberg A-Liga. They steadily improved and by 1996 were competing in the Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V). Around 2000, Hopp returned to the club of his youth as a financial backer. Hopp was the co-founder of software firm SAP and he put some of his money into the club.
His contributions generated almost immediate results – in 2000 Hoffenheim finished first in the Verbandsliga and was promoted to the fourth-division Oberliga Baden-Wurttemberg.

Another first place finish moved the club up to the Regionalliga Sud (III) for the 2001-02 season.
They finished 13th in their first season in the Regionalliga, but improved significantly the next year, earning a fifth place result.

Hoffenheim earned fifth and seventh place finishes in the next two seasons, before improving to fourth in 2005-06 to earn their best result to date.
The club made its first German Cup appearance in the 2003-04 competition and performed well, advancing to the quarterfinals by eliminating 2.Bundesliga sides Eintracht Trier and Karlsruher SC and Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen before being put out themselves by another 2. Bundesliga side, Vfb Lubeck.

In 2006, the club sought to improve its squad and technical staff by bringing in players with several years of Bundesliga experience, most notably Jochen Seitz and Tomislav Maric and by signing ralf Rangnick, former manager of Bundesliga teams SSV Ulm 1846, Vfb Stuttgart, Hannover 96, and Schalke 04, to a five-year contract. The investment paid off in the 2006-07 season with the club’s promotion to the

2.Bundesliga after finishing 2nd in Regionalliga Sud.
The 2007-08 season was Hoffenheim’s first season in professional football. After a weak start with three losses and only one draw in the first four games, the team’s performance improved remarkably and Hoffenheim climbed from 16th place on Matchday four to second place on Matchday 23.

The team managed to defend their place until the end of the season, having scored 60 points after Matchday 34.
As a result of their second place finish they received automatic promotion to the 1.Bundesliga, the highest German tier in football, after just playing in the 2. Bundesliga for one season.

The 2008-09 season was Hoffenheim’s first season in the German top division. With the performance of strikers Vebad Ibisevic, Demba Ba and Chideu Obasi, the newly-promoted Hoffenheim managed to climb to the top of the table quickly, winning the “Herbstmeister” (Autumn-Champion) title with 35 points after 17 Matchdays.
In the 2009-10 season Hoffenheim further improved their squad by signing midfielders Maicosuel and Franco Zuculini, as well as experienced defender Josip Simunic.

The club finished a disappointing eleventh place with 42 points and a goal difference of +2.
Hopp’s financial support, which transformed Hoffenheim from a local amateur club into a competitive Bundesliga club, has been strongly criticised by other clubs, fans and by some in the German press.

Commonly, the club is mockingly called 18.99 Hoppenheim or simply Hoppenheim since the club’s recent success is based on the large amount of money invested by Hopp.
The main points of criticism are the club’s lack of “tradition” and a proper fan base, as the club is a historically insignificant side from a village of just 3 300 inhabitants.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim made their loftier ambitions clear in 2006 when the club’s management decided to build the new 30 150 seat Rhein-Neckar Arena, suitable for hosting Bundesliga matches.
The stadium was originally to be built in Heidelberg before the selection of a site in Sinsheim.
They opened their first season in the 1. Bundesliga at the 26 022 capacity Car-Benz Stadion in Mannheim and played their first match in their new stadium on 31 January 2009. – Wikipedia

---

The Derby That Cheered Our Spirits
The Harare Derby, heavily criticised as a lifeless battle after a horrible tie last month, hit back at its critics by dishing out a quality show that was full value for its lofty status as the premier fixture on the domestic calendar.

CAPS United and Dynamos turned for the show ready for a battle and, for 90 minutes, they hammered at each other and won the hearts of neutrals as they gave justification, to the paying public, that the trip to the National Sports Stadium that day was worth the effort.

Dynamos won the game, once again scoring a dramatic winner in the dying moments, to give Lloyd Mutasa a clean sweep of the Harare Derby honours in only his first season in charge of the Glamour Boys.
When Mutasa first took over, Dynamos were all about style and nothing else, one touch passes, movements with grace, eye-catching dummies all everything that comes with reality shows.

That was why they were caught out and slaughtered in Algiers in that return leg of the Champions League after they had won the first leg 4-1 in Harare, where their inexperience had resulted in them conceding that last-gasp penalty.

But, with time, Mutasa has brought in the substance in this team and there is a spirit, in this side, that gives them the passion to go for a result, even on the occasion when they are being overrun.
They now fight like true warriors and their comeback show on Sunday, after having been outplayed for long periods in midfield, was testimony of their newly-found spirit.
The good thing about this Dynamos challenge is that you can see it on the graph that it is rising and anyone who believes that the Glamour Boys are not in the race is dreaming.

Yes, FC Platinum and Motor Action have the advantage but, have you checked that since BancABC came on aboard to take care of the Dynamos salaries, the people’s team have been a changed and focused unit?
There are 39 points still to play for and that means a lot. CAPS United were beaten on Sunday, despite playing the better football, but for all the pain inflicted by that defeat to their biggest rivals, the Green

Machine should take a number of positives into the future.
Their performance that day, spreading the ball around, using the midfield to good effect, using their wings well, was one of their best this season and it can only bring hope for a better future.

Some have questioned coach Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe, following the loss to Dynamos, and after he just picked one out of nine points in the three matches that he has been in charge.
But I feel Jongwe deserved to be given time because you can see what he is trying to achieve and, if his boys can keep playing as well as they did on Sunday, the days will be brighter in the coming weeks.

---

What They Say About Beer

• Beer is the cause and solution to all of life’s problems.

• I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.

• Stay busy, get plenty of exercise, and don’t drink too much. Then again, don’t drink too little.

• Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

• A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

• Even though a number of people have tried, no one has yet found a way to drink for a living.

• I envy people who drink – at least they know what to blame everything on.

• Wine is bottled poetry. One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thought.

• One reason I don’t drink is that I want to know when I am having a good time.

• Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.

• The harsh, useful things of the world, from pulling teeth to digging potatoes, are best done by men who are as starkly sober as so many convicts in the death-house, but the lovely and useless things, the charming and exhilarating things, are best done by men with, as the phrase is, a few sheets to the wind.

---

Barca vs Man U Once Again
So we will play Barcelona once again tonight, opening all the wounds that were inflicted that night at Wembley, including some that had started to heal.
Well, that’s the beauty of supporting your team, it bonds you into a unit and you see its special qualities, even when the opposition, like in Barca’s case, is superior.
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chiharitoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Text Feedback – (International – +263772545199; Local – 0772545199)
Email – [email protected]
You can also interact with Robson Sharuko on Facebook and Twitter.