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control of the first of two hurdles that must be cleared for a place at the 2013 Nations Cup finals in South Africa.
So near, yet so far!
That has been our heartbreaking story in this beautiful game and you can turn back the hands of time and you will see this agonising tale playing itself out with frustrating regularity.
July, in particular, isn’t a good month for us and you probably remember John Sibanda’s jitters, which gave Congo Brazzaville a lifeline and a 2-2 draw at the National Sports Stadium to crush our hopes, for a place at the ’92 Nations Cup finals, in dramatic fashion.
It happened on July 19 1991 and Willard Mashinkila-Khumalo said he could see fear in Sibanda’s eyes when it was announced that he would guard goals in that big Nations Cup qualifier.
Remember Kalusha Bwalya’s late equaliser at the giant stadium, to give the Zambians a 1-1 draw they barely deserved and the ticket to the ’94 Nations Cup finals, in a game where a win would have taken us to Tunisia for our first appearance at the showcase?
It happened on July 25 1993 and, somehow, in the defining moment of the game, Kalusha found a way to score his first headed goal in international football for the fatal knockout blow that left us sprawling on the canvas.
When Ian Porterfield and his Warriors arrived in Angola in their final match of the ’98 Nations Cup qualifiers, they had a chance of qualifying for the tournament in Burkina Faso with a win in Luanda.
But, on July 28, 1997, the Warriors slumped to a 1-2 defeat at the Citadela and their never-ending story of being so near, yet so far from the Promised Land, added another chapter.
Even when we needed just one hurdle to clear for a place at the World Cup finals, completing what would certainly have been recorded as football’s greatest success story, we collapsed in Yaounde and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, with a helping hand from a diabolical referee, triumphed 3-1.
It has always been like that for us, hasn’t it, and if we aren’t falling to a sucker punch in a big game then we are losing the final game when a win would have taken us to the place where all our hearts desire.
So, as the drama unfolded in Bujumbura on Wednesday, and Knowledge Musona fired home the equaliser for us on the stroke of the hour, during a period in which our dominance was pronounced, there was always a sense of de-javu, that something horrible would happen at the end.
It did and, a minute before the end of regulation time, Valery Nahayo, who had played with Musona at Kaizer Chiefs before moving to Belgium, soared above our tiring defensive shield and headed home the goal that gave Burundi the lead in this two-part contest.
Different voices have given different assessments to what happened in Burundi and the heartbreaking 1-2 loss by the Warriors as they started a fresh Nations Cup campaign in the same way they ended the last one — with a loss on the road.
The scoreline in Bujumbura, just like in Praia against Cape Verde in the Warriors’ final 2012 Nations Cup qualifier, was strikingly similar — a 1-2 victory for the hosts.
The scorer for the Warriors, in Praia and in Bujumbura, was also the same man — the consistent Musona whose striking average for his nation underlines his special status as the genius on whose slippery feet we have built all our hopes as a country.
While the majority of characters who played in Praia were different from those who were on national duty in Bujumbura, the result was strikingly similar and the ray of hope, in Cape Verde just like in Burundi, was provided by the genius of Musona.
Lovemore Banda, during his days when his powerful poetic language illuminated the sports segment of ZBC’s main news on television, famously defined our Warriors as “Shakespearean tragedy”.
He said the inevitability is that there will be tears and what will change, now and again, are the characters who will carry the burden to try and find the switch to bring the light to the gloom in a futile exercise that will be repeated year after year.
So where you had John Sibanda in ’91, replace him with Tapuwa Kapini in 2011 or thereabout, where you had Bruce Grobbelaar in ’93, replace him with Washington Arubi in 2011 or thereabout, where you had Agent Sawu scoring for fun in the ‘90s but, ultimately, taking us nowhere, replace him with Knowledge Musona now.
The characters, think about all the players you can imagine, and then just replace them with the boys who are in the trenches now, you will see that they have changed here and there but the inevitability of the tragic ending continues to stalk us — then just like now.

The  Social Media vs Traditional Media
When news started filtering through the social media sites that the Warriors had beaten Burundi 2-0 on Wednesday, with Musona and Vusa Nyoni on target, it triggered celebrations around the capital.
For everything that has happened to the Warriors brand, and all the battering it has received from the negativity that continues to stalk it, one thing for sure is that this is a hugely popular team and it has a big number of loyalists, otherwise known as its fans.
We love our team with a passion and for every setback that hits the Warriors, you get a feeling the number of their fans increase in terms of thousands — either out of sympathy, for the mediocrity that the team continues to produce, or out of hope that tomorrow could present a better day.
We look at the Zambians, whom we beat 2-0 at Rufaro on their way to the 2012 Nations Cup finals, and see what they have achieved in the past month and we say “Wow!, you know we are as good as them and, if we sort one or two things nagging us, we will be the next champions”.
So when the social media sites, as they usually do, sent a wrong result for a game that was still in play and gave us a 2-0 win that never was, the Harare rumour mill went into overdrive and the parties started here and there in the big city.
There was an element of reality to the scoreline, as wrong as it was, because there was the identity of the goalscorers and The Sunday Mail Deputy Sports Editor, my good brother Marko Gold Makomborero, posted on his Facebook wall to say that his beloved Warriors had triumphed in Burundi.
When authoritative voices like Marko Gold post things on their Facebook pages, the fans have a right to believe and with such authorities providing confirmation, the party went into full swing in Harare.
And when I posted on my Facebook page       to say that Burundi had taken the lead in the 46th minute, it triggered a load of abusive feedback as scores of people went into overdrive to say that I was not only wrong but should be arrested for criminal defamation of a Warriors’ brand that had powered to a good victory.
When Musona scored on the hour mark and I advised my mutual Facebook friends as such, the critics went hysterical and a lot of swear words, unprintable in a family newspaper like this one, were directed at me with some accusing me of being an enemy of the state.
Worse was to follow when I posted that Valery Nahayo had headed home a sucker punch in the 89th minute and Burundi had taken the lead in Bujumbura.
To a lot of guys, this was still scrap material because, as far as they were concerned, the Warriors had won 2-0 and livescore.com, whatever it means, had advised them that the game had long ended and Musona and Nyoni, two of our most consistent performers, had carried the day for Zimbabwe.
Even when I advised some of the doubting Thomases that BBC Sport were carrying the updates live on their extensive coverage and all they needed was to log onto the BBC website and see that we were now down 1-2, with very little time on our hands to launch a fightback, very few people took the advice.
Well, the following morning, after the  mainstream newspapers had carried the         story that the Warriors had, indeed, lost the game 1-2, a flurry of apologies started appearing on my Facebook page saying sorry mukoma for this and that, you were right after all yesterday.
My good brother, Augustine Musarurwa of The Sunday Mail, felt there was need for a debate and boldly said that on Wednesday afternoon, the shortcomings of the social media phenomenon, were crudely exposed and the strength of the traditional media, significantly boosted.
The good thing about Wednesday’s events was that, ultimately, the true result would be known and, as it turned out, was eventually known and accepted even by those who had championed the cause of livescore.com and relied upon it as if it was the Bible.
Sadly, on other issues that are not as clear-cut as a football scoreline, there is very little, in terms of getting to a position where the real story can be told, once the vultures of the social media pick up on you and say all the horrible stuff about you.
I have been a victim of such a smear campaign but, in my case, rather than fight back, I humbly accept it as part of a job and profile that is both public and controversial.
You learn to live with it, somehow finding the airbags to neutralise the impact of the damaging words printed on the social media sites, and the strength to carry on hoping that time will be the ultimate healer and, as with all things in this life, the truth will one good day come out.
Wednesday was a good day for traditional media and, by the way, to Marko Gold’s credit, my good brother realised the trust that a lot of people have invested in his word, and decided to publicly apologise for being part of the merchants that broadcast the incorrect result.
That’s what good guys do. Well done Marko!

The Thin Line Between Heroism And Zeroism
One minute you had an army of people saluting this new crop of Warriors, based on that incorrect result supplied by livescore.com, and a host of websites and Facebook groups, as the true and shining ambassadors of the fatherland who had brought integrity back to the brand of the national team.
Then things changed dramatically, as reality crept in that we had lost in Burundi, and the language turned foul as the people poured their venom on Zifa, the players, the technical team, the journalists, you name it.
It’s a thin line between being heroes and turning into zeroes and the events in Burundi put that into perspective.
Well, to me Rahman Gumbo did a commendable job, under very difficult circumstances, and you have to give him some credit for somehow assembling a team, where there was none, and putting into battle men who came within a minute, in regulation time, of getting a draw.
Of course, questions have to be asked about the wisdom of dropping Carrington Nyadombo, a regular centreback who is playing week in and week out at Amazulu in Super Diski, at a time when we did not have manpower in that department and had to push Esrom Nyandoro into that new role.
Nyandoro has been a good ambassador of the Warriors but he is desperately in need of regular action and, at this advanced stage of his career, a central defensive role — where a little bit of pace also helps — could be suicidal.
The chances that Terrence Mandaza blew away, in Burundi, were awful and he knows he let his coach down but his pedigree at this level remains questionable and if the onus was invested in me to make a choice that weekend between Mandaza and Donald Ngoma, I would have settled for the latter.
Why?
Ngoma is in the groove, he had just come from a five-star performance leading the FC Platinum line in Swaziland where he scored two goals and, for a striker, when you are scoring goals, you are in the zone and Donald, with his pace and strength, was ripe for the occasion.
But, overally, I think Rahman did well, in the circumstances, and you get a feeling he would have done even better if all his troops had flown into Bujumbura at the same time on Sunday and, at least, trained together on Monday and Tuesday.
When you have a scenario where your best player arrives just four hours before the match, because his travel arrangements had been bungled by the man supposed to take care of that portfolio, then a coach, in such circumstances, can do very little in terms of waving his magic.
There is no need to change Rahman now, for the Warriors’ assignment against Burundi, because he knows the terrain and knows the opponents and, given that he will have more time with his men in May and June, you can bet your last dollar that he can complete this assignment with distinction.
The good thing is that he is hungry to make up for what happened in Burundi, and that is always a positive sign from a coach, and you can feel he can’t wait for revenge and he feels the pain that the next match, against these opponents, is three months — instead of three weeks – away.
Rahman has a reputation to protect and          he doesn’t want to be remembered as the coach who lost in Burundi but as the coach who guided the Warriors to success over Burundi and you feel he can do it if given the chance and, given the challenges his team faced this week, he did the best in the circumstances.
Let’s resist the temptation to plunge into meaningless tribal debates and accusations because we are one good country and we won’t help our cause by looking at petty issues instead of shifting our focus to the real issues that we need to improve our preparations and, hopefully, our best players will be back by June.

Musona Has The Air Of Greatness
You have to take a bow to Knowledge Musona, when it comes to the Warriors, because each game he plays for this team, he is showing signs he could turn into one of the all-time greatest players to wear that gold and green shirt.
Now and again, on the big stage, he has delivered for his country, scoring big goals, and even when time was cruelly not on his side in the run-up to the game against Burundi, he made sure he would get there and, as we expected, scored for us.
Not since the days when Peter Ndlovu assumed the status of Warriors’ talisman, and duly delivered at every turn, has this team been blessed with such a special talent like Knowledge Musona.
In Peter Ndlovu, we expected the Flying Elephant to deliver in every match and, as it turned out, our hopes were not misplaced as he duly delivered at every turn, inspiring us to our maiden show at the Nations Cup finals and leaving us with a host of memories.
In Knowledge Musona, we expect the Smiling Assassin to deliver in every match and, as things are turning out to be, our hopes are not misplaced as he is duly delivering at every turn, inspiring us all the way and leaving us with a host of memories.
It has come to a stage where when you hear that the Warriors have scored, you are pretty certain that the identity of the scorer is given — Knowledge Musona.
It was the same story in Liberia, the same story against Mali at Rufaro when he scored twice, the same story against Cape Verde when his goal gave us hope and the same story against Burundi when his away goal provided a silver lining to the dark cloud.
It’s guys like Knowledge that provide us with hope that tomorrow will be a better day and it’s certain Khama will be back soon, Ovidy will be back soon, and you can see the quality of the team that we have and, when you take away the politics, we have a squad good enough to beat Zambia.
Musona might not be playing regularly at TSG Hoffenheim but mark my words, this guy has the air of greatness around him and let’s relax, fasten our seat belts and enjoy the sights and sounds provided by this magician as he soars to greatness.

The Team That Never Wins Away From Home
The Warriors have this horrible record, when it comes to playing away from home, and for those who are saying we lost in Burundi because most of our regular players were not there, you need to be reminded that we have never been good hunters in enemy territory.
Since winning 2-0 against Rwanda in a 2006 World Cup/Nations Cup qualifier on June 27 2004, our last away victory at this level when, ironically we were under the guidance of Gumbo, the Warriors have played 12 games (World Cup/Nations Cup), won zero, drew three and lost nine.
Our draws have come against Algeria (2-2) under Mhlauri, Guinea (0-0) under Valinhos and Liberia (1-1) under Mapeza.
We have lost to Angola (0-1), Nigeria (1-5), Malawi (0-1) and Morocco (0-2) under Mhlauri; Kenya (0-2) and Namibia (2-4) under Valinhos; Mali (0-1) and Cape Verde (1-2) under Mapeza and Burundi (1-2) under Rahman.
We have scored eight goals and conceded 23 for three out of 36 points at a failure rate of 8.33 percent.
It doesn’t get any worse than that.

Vintage Ryan Giggs Is Magical
Last Sunday, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, with a combined age of 75 years, 1 586 appearances and 328 goals for Man United, inspired the Red Devils to a big 2-1 win over Norwich.
Yesterday, we marked 21 years since Giggs made his United debut in a 0-2 defeat against Everton.
Incredibly, on his 900th appearance for United on Sunday, Giggs popped up in the 90th minute to score the winner. Ironically, his first goal for United was against Norwich on September 7, 1991.
With Giggs scoring for United, the Red Devils have won 120 games, drawn 18 and lost only 10. He is our lucky boy, isn’t he?
Indava vanhu vachinyepa so?
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

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