An image of an unplayable Lionel Messi, at the peak of his athletic powers, making a mockery of a five-man shield of AC Milan defenders, dropping his shoulders and, without the aid of back-lift, somehow smashing the ball into the top corner, from outside the box.
The image of Xavi, turning back the hands of time, in a virtuoso performance in which he was the conductor of the orchestra, controlling the rhythm of the game, and parading his full package of dazzling passing skills that made him the creative hub of a virtually perfect football machine. An image of Andreas Iniesta, driving his team forward with his deceptive runs, popping up in spaces that confused the opposition, providing ammunition for Messi and his side and wrecking havoc, every time he was in possession, on a left channel where he ruled supreme.

The image of a team with its backs to the wall, as was the case with Barca on Tuesday night, trying to do something that no team had ever done before in a Champions League tie and not only succeeding in its mission but turning on a grand show, for good measure, for the neutrals to retain their loyalty to this game.

An image of the Camp Nou in full cry, sights and sounds of a majestic football arena that had just seen something special, something spectacular, artists whose value had been questioned in recent weeks, now showing all those who had doubted them that there is a grain of truth in the saying that form is temporary but class, boy oh boy, is permanent.

This is a theatre that has paraded some of the greatest players to play football and the old generation of Barcelona fans will recall a Dutch genius called Johan Cruyff and the spell he cast on this team as they powered to the La Liga title in the ’73/’74 season, their first since ’60, humiliating Real Madrid 5-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the process. They will remember Cruyff returning as coach to build the Dream Team of Pep Guardiola, Jose Mari Bakero, Michael Laudrup, Romario and Hristo Stoichkov, which won four straight La Liga titles from ’91 to ’94 and also turned Barcelona into European champions, for the first time, in ’92.

They will remember Ronaldo, Romario, Ronaldinho, talented Brazilians who came and left their mark at the Camp Nou, but everything that has happened in the past appears to pale in comparison with Messi and company and, on Tuesday night, the Barca magicians touched the heavens and with a majestic performance that was as golden as it was beautiful.

It’s on days and nights like these that we are given the assurance that we are right to juggle with our emotions following this game, we are right to lay our devotion to this 90-minute show, we are right to retain our subscription to this one-and-half-hour show, we are right to retain our loyalty to football because, on this planet, there is no game like this game. Brave Arsenal came very, very close to writing the greatest story of this Champions League show, not in terms of artistic performance, but in terms of sheer determination, the raw will to defy insurmountable odds, the commendable spirit to fight for the sake of the fans who back their cause and they were almost rewarded at the Allianz Arena with a ticket to the quarter-finals.

The Gunners looked hopeless, after being destroyed at home, and a team without a commitment to its brand and its fans would have given in but Arsene Wenger and his men showed us, with a performance that was as much about guts as it was about getting their tactics right, and in the end it was mighty Bayern praying for the game to come to an end. Arsenal’s 2-0 victory in Munich on Wednesday night was huge simply because this was the first home defeat for Bayern Munich, in a Champions League match, in 15 games stretching over a period of over three years because last season’s final, where they lost to Chelsea, was deemed to be taking place at a neutral venue, and a post-match penalty shootout was required for that.

Somehow the Gunners kept a clean sheet against a Bayern side that had scored in each of their last 44 matches leading into this tie. What lessons did we pick, as a football nation, watching the beautiful show at the Camp Nou as Barcelona tore AC Milan apart and became the first team, in the era of the Champions League, to overturn a 0-2 first leg deficit and qualify for the next round without the aid of the away goals rule?

What lessons did we pick, as a football nation, watching the blood, sweat and tears of the Arsenal players and fans as they, together as a united team, went about trying to make the impossible possible and, in the process, came very, very close to writing one of the greatest stories in the history of the Champions League? What lessons did Callisto Pasuwa and his DeMbare boys pick, from the events at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night, as they plunge into enemy territory in Tunisia tomorrow, against a background where the Gunners showed them that superior home teams don’t necessarily have a ticket to win their matches, that visiting teams can go into the lion’s den and come out unharmed and that passion can help move mountains in sticky situations?

What lessons did our national team coach, Klaus-Dieter Pagels, who tells us that he is a disciple of the tika takka type of football, an evolution from Total Football of the great Dutch team of the ’70s, brought to Barcelona by Cruyff when he arrived as coach, pick from the events at the Camp Nou on Tuesday night where the artists that he takes as a benchmark were in full flow?

What lessons did our fans pick, from events at the Camp Nou and Allianz Arena where the voices of the supporters played a very big part in driving their team to scale lofty heights, and what did we learn from the traveling Arsenal fans who refused to believe that theirs had turned into Mission Impossible, after the meltdown at home, and went to Munich believing it could be done? What lessons did our journalists take, from the way the Catalan and English media rallied behind their teams, in these two decisive matches, with Sport, the Barcelona based sports newspaper, with the third highest circulation in Spain at an average of 118 098 copies, and Mundo Deportivo, with the fourth highest circulation at 101 449, all rallying behind their team’s cause?

Why Are Our Worlds So Different?
When no English club qualifies for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, as is the case right now, it is taken in England as a national failure of a football system, an inquest is held behind closed doors and strategies are put in motion for a better show next time around. When our representative in the Champions League are humiliated 0-6 in Tunisia, we don’t embrace it as a failed national football system, needing all of us to come together to find a solution for a better performance tomorrow, but rather, in our shallow world, we take it as an excuse to mock those who suffered in service for their nation.

Because we are so petty, we would rather spend the next 20 years, reminding everyone who cares to listen that Dynamos suffered a 0-6 embarrassment in Tunisia than the fact that they beat Etoile du Sahel home and away, despite their limited financial foundation, when the Tunisian side were then the defending champions of Africa just five years ago. Given it’s our nature to be so shallow-minded, eternally divorced from the big picture and everything that it provides for those who see it, our fascination will be centred on that six-goal drubbing that DeMbare received than the incredible journey that these men marched, 15 years ago, to reach the final of the Champions League.

We will remain transfixed, won’t we, by the fact that Bosso were beaten 0-6 by Esperance, in the same Champions League, because we derive a lot of cold comfort from our downfall rather than dwell on the positive run that the Bulawayo giants made that was cruelly ended, in controversial fashion, by Cameroon side Sable de Batie.
The more our representatives fall, and I can assure that there is a huge constituency of Zimbabweans out there just praying that Dynamos are hammered in Tunisia tomorrow, so that they can go on Facebook and start a web of insults towards the club’s fans, the more we find comfort in such failure and we have made success such an unacceptable visitor to us.

You can tell the foul words that would be used, to describe Callisto Pasuwa as if he has suddenly become a very bad coach, as if his achievements in winning a double double don’t matter any more, as if the huge turnover of his stars every year to South Africa isn’t weakening his team in every campaign, as if the local football structures aren’t hostile for him to write such a success story on the continent.

You can tell the foul words that would be used, to describe Dynamos, even when they dared to venture into a territory where all the other teams in the country feared this season, for one reason or another, even when a stroke of cruel misfortune means they can’t get a favourable draw to play either Orlando Pirates or Zanaco and have to take on North African opposition all the time, even when the flag they are flying is not blue-and-white but green-and-gold.

You can make a compilation of the foul language that would be used, to abuse the so-called pro-DeMbare journalists, and I don’t need to tell you who will be the main target, amid accusations that they are using their pen to give this side a false sense of superiority at home, they don’t criticise this giant as much as they should be doing and they turn a blind eye to the fatal weaknesses in its machinery. That’s exactly what we are as a people, it’s the negativity that drives us, that fascinates us, that excites us, that lights up our small worlds and we would rather drink and derive a lot of joy in telling each other, “Charohwa chiye cheblue paTunisia apa” and they appear to find a lot of comfort in telling you “Wanzwa here mudhara kuti Orlando Pirates yarova Zanaco paZambia?” as if I care a bit about that result.

When Dynamos asked for a friendly match against Buffaloes last Saturday, to fine-tune themselves into shape ahead of tomorrow’s match, they ran into a host of challenges with the PSL saying they couldn’t sanction the game because this was a weekend reserved for the Charity Shield final and a match in Marondera would be a counter-attraction to events in Zvishavane. The next day DeMbare officials tried again, this time to organise a friendly match against Harare City, but that was turned down, too, because the fans needed to be glued to SuperSport to watch the final of the NetOne Charity Shield so as to give sponsors the maximum possible mileage they wanted.

Mighty Real Madrid, who have a superstar called Ronaldo in their line-up and a genius of a coach called Mourinho on their bench, asked for a favour, and were granted by the Spanish Football Federation, to have their El Clasico against Barcelona played on a Friday so as to give their players three full days to rest before facing Manchester United in a Champions League second leg showdown at Old Trafford.

Barcelona, who had played a Champions League tie in Milan on Tuesday, felt playing on Friday would be too much for their players and, as a compromise, agreed to play Real Madrid at the odd hour of 5pm, on a Saturday afternoon, instead of the traditional 10pm Saturday night kick-off for such a massive showdown.
The Spanish football authorities made sure that El Clasico would be played at exactly the same time, not a minute after, the Manchester United/Norwich league match on the same day. Even Barcelona, for all their hatred of Real Madrid, agreed to bring forward their match against the galacticos by six hours, to help their rivals’ Champions League cause, because beyond their healthy rivalry there was the big picture of a Spanish nation that needed both clubs to do well in the Champions League. So, if a team as good as Real Madrid can get such help from its football systems, why is it that a team as poor and weak as Dynamos, who are still bleeding from the loss of some of their key players during the off-season, is frustrated when it asks for a helping hand from the very domestic system that it calls its family?

The answer you will find to that question will explain why we are so worlds apart from the success stories that we see, when we tune into our television sets, and watch the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona succeeding on the grand stages. We remain slaves to petty jealousies, the Pull-Them-Down-Syndrome, deriving joy in our failures, finding comfort in our misery, never a people that look at the bigger picture, even when we know that it is there, because all we care about is nursing our little egos.

DeMbare should fall in Tunisia, we will be telling each other in bars, gyms, churches and supermarkets across the country, because we are allergic to success, because we can’t see that national flag they are flying, because our clubs were not good enough to qualify for the inter-club tournaments, because we are comfortable reading the sad stories about failure on the back pages of the newspapers and, incredibly, because we want to go on Facebook to mock this and that guy.

CAPS United Find Time To Celebrate Again

The enduring image, for me, from the NetOne Charity Shield at Mandava last weekend was the sight of scores of CAPS United fans, overcome with emotion after their team’s triumph over FC Platinum, spilling onto the pitch to join their players and coaches in celebrations. Few sights, in our football, are better than a happy Green Machine family, in full cry, celebrating a grand victory. After an off-season dominated by boardroom trials and tribulations, it felt really good to see the CAPS United fans smile again, celebrating a key victory, in which their team had shown a lot of character, to weather a storm, and then win the lottery.

To compete against FC Platinum and take them to a penalty shoot-out, given all that has happened in the past three months, was itself a huge moral victory and the Green Machine family should take a lot of positives from what happened in Mandava.
Of course, the 0-3 meltdown, in an hour, in the final against Chicken Inn, provided that painful reminder that there is still a lot of work to be done just the same way that their fighting spirit, which saw them score twice in the final 10 minutes, infused hope for a better tomorrow.

The Green Machine still has major issues to sort out, key of them being who takes charge now of the team, and Lloyd Chitembwe and Norman Mapeza are the fans’ favourites with Brenna Msiska and his lieutenant, Albert “Dalala” Mabika, continuing in their roles as assistant coaches. There are questions over the ‘keeper’s position, the defence didn’t retain its solidity for long periods but what CAPS United have is arguably one of the best three players plying their trade in the domestic Premiership today, midfielder Hardlife Zvirekwi, and building a team around him could be the key.

End of An Era For English Clubs?
For the first time, since the 1995-1996 season, a period stretching over 17 years, there was no side from the English Premiership in the draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League yesterday. The last time they failed to reach the last eight was when Blackburn Rovers, the only Premiership representatives, failed to get beyond the group stage.

Since then, here is the record for the English teams:

1996-1997 One semi-finalist – Manchester United – lost 2-0 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund
1997-1998 One quarter-finalist – Manchester United – lost on away goals rule to Monaco; 1-1 aggregate
1998-1999 WINNER – Manchester United – beat Bayern Munich 2-1
1999-2000 Two quarter-finalists – Manchester United – lost 3-2 on aggregate to Real Madrid – and Chelsea – lost 6-4 on aggregate to Barcelona
2000-2001 One semi-finalist – Leeds United – lost 3-0 on aggregate to Valencia; two quarter-finalists – Manchester United – lost 3-1 on aggregate to Bayern Munich – and Arsenal – lost on away goals to Valencia; 2-2 aggregate
2001-2002 One semi-finalist – Manchester United – lost on away goals to Bayer Leverkusen; 3-3 aggregate; One quarter-finalist – Liverpool – lost 4-3 on aggregate to Bayer Leverkusen
2002-2003 One quarter-finalist – Manchester United – lost 6-5 on aggregate to Real Madrid
2003-2004 One semi-finalist – Chelsea – lost 5-3 on aggregate to Monaco; One quarter-finalist – Arsenal – lost 3-2 on aggregate to Chelsea
2004-2005 WINNER – Liverpool – beat AC Milan on penalties after 3-3 draw; One semi-finalist – Chelsea – lost 1-0 on aggregate to Liverpool
2005-2006 FINALIST – Arsenal – lost 2-1 to Barcelona
2006-2007 FINALIST – Liverpool – lost 2-1 to AC Milan; Two semi-finalists – Chelsea – lost on penalties to Liverpool; 1-1 aggregate – and Manchester United – lost 5-3 on aggregate to Milan
2007-2008 WINNER AND FINALIST – Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties after 1-1 draw; One semi-finalist – Liverpool – lost 4-3 on aggregate to Chelsea; One quarter-finalist – Arsenal – lost 5-3 on aggregate to Liverpool
2008-2009 FINALIST – Manchester United – lost 2-0 to Barcelona; Two semi-finalists – Arsenal – lost 4-1 on aggregate to Manchester United – and Chelsea – lost on away goals to Barcelona; 1-1 aggregate
2009-2010 Two quarter-finalists – Manchester United – lost on away goals to Bayern Munich; 4-4 aggregate – and Arsenal – lost 6-3 on aggregate to Barcelona
2010-2011 FINALIST – Manchester United – lost 3-1 to Barcelona; Two quarter-finalists – Chelsea – lost 3-1 on aggregate to Manchester United – and Tottenham – lost 5-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid
2011-2012 WINNER – Chelsea – beat Bayern Munich on penalties after 1-1 draw

SAYING OF THE WEEK
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway. (This version found written on the wall in Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta, India)

To God Be The Glory
Come on United !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitoooooooooooooooooooooooo!
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