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THE beauty, when it was paraded on that Sunday night under the glare of the Franceville moonlight, was something to behold, images so beautiful, so charming, so intoxicating it made all of us very, very proud to be members of this blessed nation of indomitable Warriors. Khama Billiat running the Algerian defence ragged, unlucky not to score what would have been two of the best goals seen at the Nations Cup finals, the first a venomous volley of remarkable purity that was, sadly, touched onto the post by an inspired ’keeper who appeared to have bet his life that, for all people, he would not let our golden boy get one past him.

Then, in the second half, a trademark burst into space, some trickery, a Stanley Matthews-like drop of the shoulder as if he was going to the left and, then, without breaking stride, going right, leaving his markers in a spin as he created a pocket of space before opening fire only for that ‘keeper to somehow find both courage and flexibility to make the right connection, with his big right hand, and push the ball out for a corner.

Of course, it came at a huge cost, with the Algerian ’keeper being injured as he performed those heroics for his country and he missed his nation’s second game, which they lost to Tunisia, because of the damage that Khama had inflicted on him in that bruising head-to-head contest where neither party was prepared to give an inch in a titanic battle for supremacy.

Sammy Kuffour, the Ghanaian legend, formerly of Bayern Munich, famous for tears on that goalline, as he cried for his club and his shattered dreams, after Manchester United had somehow risen from the dead in that unforgettable ’99 UEFA Champions League final, to score twice in time added on and become kings of Europe for the first time in exactly 31 years, even said Khamaldinho was as good as the best of the African players today.

Oh, yes, the man who has become a SuperSport pundit, who celebrated wildly in the studio every time we scored in that game against Algeria, turning himself into a favourite of millions of football fans in this country, even said Khama had been blessed by the football gods who gave Nigerian playmaker, Austin Okocha, so good they had to nickname him twice “Jay-Jay”, the gifts that made him a superstar.

Do you remember Okocha, of course, my Game Plan colleague Charles Mabika, will never forget him after he charmed him so much with his wizardry when he came here with the Super Eagles and his portrayal of the midfielder didn’t go down well, with some people it ended up having some repercussions for the man who calls himself CNN and seemingly, of course, never changes an Afro hairstyle that is a throwback to the Swinging Sixties.

Kuda Mahachi stroking home that beauty, even though my colleague Steve Vickers — commentating on SuperSport — somehow appeared not to see the quality of the execution, appearing to blame the ’keeper for a slow reaction than seeing he had been fooled by the curl in that shot, and a nerveless Nyasha Mushekwi sending him the wrong side from the penalty spot.

Yes, we deserved more, far much more, Cuthbert Malajila, being overwhelmed by the instincts which stalk many strikers and going for glory when a simple push of the ball into the path of an unmarked Mahachi would have secured national glory and a cool $6 000 in bonuses for every Warrior on this Gabonese adventure.

But, even though there were some misgivings, including a golden chance to slay one African giant on the big stage of the Nations Cup, where we would have proved beyond any reasonable doubt that we had come of age, it was still a beautiful story and it evoked immense pride, among us, for being Zimbabweans, being Warriors.

For historians, the lovely images from Gabon were probably a throwback to that day in November 1855, when the Scottish missionary David Livingstone, then a 27-year-old daredevil on a mission to see what lay in the interior of Africa, cast his eyes on the beauty and majesty of one of the seven wonders of the world, what would later be known around the world as the Victoria Falls.

“After twenty minutes’ sail from Kalai we came in sight, for the first time, of the columns of vapour appropriately called ‘smoke,’ rising at a distance of five or six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are burned in Africa,” he noted.

“Five columns now arose, and, bending in the direction of the wind, they seemed placed against a low ridge covered with trees; the tops of the columns at this distance appeared to mingle with the clouds. They were white below, and higher up became dark, so as to simulate smoke very closely.

“The whole scene was extremely beautiful; the banks and islands dotted over the river are adorned with sylvan vegetation of great variety of colour and form . . . no one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England.

“It had never been seen before by European eyes BUT SCENES SO LOVELY MUST HAVE BEEN GAZED UPON BY ANGELS IN THEIR FLIGHT.”

AND, FOUR DAYS LATER, CAME THE REALITY CHECK

But, four days after our heroics against Algeria, came the brutality of the reality check, a ruthless reminder that we still have some way to go before we start fooling ourselves that we are now part of the elite football nations on the continent, that we still have a lot to do before we can claim membership of the game’s aristocracy and there is still a significant gap between us and the most powerful football nations in Africa.

Senegal, the Lions of Teranga, the country ranked as the number one football nation on the continent, provided that reality check as they squeezed life out of us in Franceville on Thursday, at times toying with us as they denied us possession with some crisp movement, support of the man on the ball, stunning comfort in possession that made us chase shadows for long periods and relentless pressing whenever we had the ball to force the mistakes that we made in abundance.

This was football at a higher level and, while it’s always difficult to accept that, especially when it comes to national team contests where pride and nationalistic bravado usually cloud the brutality of reality, which explains why Botswana will still have some of their citizens telling you they will win in a football battle against either Germany or Argentina, at times it’s important that we do that.

Because, doing so will help us in our inquest, will ensure that the post-mortem will be done in a sober environment, rather than one dominated by toxicity, and we can embrace our weaknesses and find ways of how we can confront such giants as and when we come across them in the future.

There isn’t any shame in losing to Senegal, this Senegal, especially when the Lions of Teranga have brought their A-game, which they usually don’t to the frustration of their fans but, which, once in a while, they can put together, as was the case in that Franceville battle against us when, like that Castle advert, it all came together.

Man-for-man, it was a mismatch, and where the Senegalese could throw four players straight from top Premiership clubs, including a Liverpool team that is fighting for its first title since 1990 and splashed a cool US$35 million on one of the Lions of Teranga to complete the most expensive transfer in the history of African football, we had a team led by a player who would have done wonders, for his career, if he gets signed by a Belgian team.

Where the Senegalese had a 21-year-old midfielder Keita Balde Diao, widely considered the best emerging talent in African football, who is valued at more than US$30 million, was schooled in the famous Barcelona youth teams, plays for Italian giants Lazio and could be on his way to Manchester United, Real Madrid or AC Milan soon, all our hopes were on a 26-year-old Sundowns forward who we hope will one day get out of the mediocrity of Super Diski.

Where the Lions of Teranga had a 25-year-old centreback who plays for the Napoli that used, in the past, to feature a certain Diego Maradona, and who is playing regularly in the top competitions of Europe and is now valued at US$80 million, with his move from Italy set to break all records ever for a defender, we had a 31-year-old defensive pillar who plays in the Czech Republic.

Not that Costa Nhamoinesu is bad, of course, he is very, very good, and one of the best to represent us in that heart of defence and, when called upon on Thursday, he delivered, including clearing from the line, but Kalidou Koulibaly, who plays for Napoli, is in a different class.

So, before we tear each other apart and start blaming our coach for this and that, and blaming our players for this and that, the starting point should be an admission that the Senegalese, man-for-man are better than us and we would have needed a monumental effort, and hoping also to catch them on their off-day, for us to win on Thursday.

It can happen, that is the beauty of football, but even Iceland — who charmed the world by eliminating England from Euro 2016, finally met their match and were hammered by France in the next round while Leicester City, who won the English Premiership last year, could be relegated this season.

Yes, on reflection, our coach could have done other things differently, and starting with Matthew Rusike, ahead of Evans Rusike, appeared to be a mistake and for his men to keep lying deep, against such good opposition, was attracting trouble.

Our boys, too, could have fought better, but it’s difficult to face two good opponents, in a matter of just four days, and keep producing at a very, very high level, especially in those conditions.

What we should celebrate is that we have made significant strides, we have moved from the darkness when losing to Tanzania, in the preliminary round of qualifiers for a place at the AFCON finals was something that was in order, when spending a decade staggering outside the festival where the continent’s best football nations feast every two years was something that was acceptable.

Refreshingly, we now have players who can be named, among the best XI footballers on the continent, as was the case with Khama last year, thanks to his heroics in the colours of Mamelodi Sundowns and the Warriors, and the entire nation feels cheated, and screams we have been robbed, when he is not given the award of being the best footballer plying his trade in Africa, as was the case in Nigeria recently.

And, when all of Southern Africa, including former Nations Cup winners Zambia and South Africa, fall by the wayside, blown away by a tsunami of failure and they fail to make it to Gabon, we refuse to be sucked by that wave of mediocrity and find ourselves standing tall, beating our chests, telling everyone who cares to listen that we are not representing our beautiful country, but all of southern Africa at this AFCON showcase.

We also need to believe that while we lost the battle against Senegal, we haven’t lost the war, and we can beat Tunisia on Monday and still qualify.

For us to start doubting our coach, start doubting Khama as a one-game wonder, when even Mahrez failed to sparkle in his second game, is an insult to our ambassadors and shows that we are not true football fans but just people who want to ride on the wave of success even when we know that in this game you can’t always win.

Let’s cheer our boys because, if there was a time they needed our support, then it’s now.

Don’t worry Pasuwa, don’t worry Khama, don’t worry Tatenda, remember these people of little faith even doubted Jesus our Lord.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

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

Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooooo!

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