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Sharuko On Saturday

ON this day, last week, the bell tolled at Old Trafford as Manchester United, once again, took time to remember the Munich tragedy.

February 6 is a day of intense reflection, and remembrance, within United’s huge global family, of a tragedy that changed their club forever.

And, every year, without fail, since 1960, those who perished when the plane crashed, in an abortive take-off, have been remembered with both honour and love.

We became part of the story, by default, on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy when one of our own, Benjani Mwaruwari, scored Manchester City’s winner at Old Trafford.

Somehow, a man who carried the chilling nickname of “The Undertaker,” found himself scoring the goal, which defeated the hosts, on this grimmest of occasions.

Making his debut, for City, Benjani’s connection, with the faintest of headed touches, directed the ball home, to give his team a 2-1 league win.

Darius Vassel had opened the scoring for City that day, on February 10, 2008, the result of the match itself lost, in the poignancy of the sombre occasion.

With both teams being led onto the pitch by a lone piper, playing “The Red Flag,’’ this was certainly no ordinary match.

The hosts wore a kit similar to the one, which the ill-fated Class of ’58 had used, with no advertising on the front, or the players’ names at the back.

City also responded by removing all the commercial logos from their kit, while both sets of players wore black armbands.

The united front, demonstrated by both sets of fans, to respect that special occasion, has always been hailed as a reminder of how this game can, occasionally, find its conscience, despite being a playground where madness often overshadows common sense.

That two black players should be part of the three scorers was itself a reminder of the transformation which both football, and these two clubs, have undergone since that tragedy.

For, back in 1958, neither United nor City, had fielded a black player before.

The Red Devils had to wait five years, after the Munich tragedy, for Dennis Walker to make his historic debut for the club, as the first black professional footballer to play for United, in 1963.

City had to wait seven years, for the arrival of their first black player, when Stan Horne joined their ranks in 1965.

Horne had started his journey as a professional, two years earlier, at Fulham whom he joined in 1963.

With Jose Mourinho, Jean Pierre-Papin, David Seaman and Peter Schmeichel being born in ‘63, one can understand the noise, which usually comes from the Dynamos camp about this year, and its significance to football.

After all, they always remind us, it was the year their football club was formed and, with that, the game in this country was never the same.

Maybe, in such grim times, when our world has significantly changed, we can allow them to tease us with some light-hearted stuff, to try and illuminate the occasion.

 

BENJANI, THE UNASSUMING UNDERTAKER, WHO BURIED THE RED DEVILS, ON THE GRIMMEST OF OCCASIONS

I started getting close to Benjani during a three-hour road trip from Cairo to Port Said in 2006, talking endlessly about football in particular, and life, in general.

I’m not sure if his new Premiership club, Portsmouth, who had secured a private jet to fly him from England to Egypt, for the 2006 AFCON finals, would have approved this transport arrangement for their prized asset to be driven through the crazy Egyptian traffic, on that road trip.

Even though he was now a record-breaking £4,1 million player, Benjani struck me with his humility, on that journey, telling me he still looked at himself as the boy from Magwegwe, in Bulawayo.

The one who had secretly sold his father’s little radio to raise funds for the trip to Chegutu, to pursue his football dreams

He knew I was a United fan and, little did we know back then, that in just two years’ time, he would be playing for my teams’ fierce rivals.

Since his Old Trafford heroics, we have talked, now and again, about the significance of him scoring at the Theatre of Dreams, on that sombre occasion.

Benjani keeps telling me the events at Old Trafford that day helped him view life in a different way and appreciate the power of what football can do in uniting people, even in the darkest of moments.

It’s easy, if someone doesn’t know the intensity of the Manchester Derby, to just dismiss the united front displayed at Old Trafford, on that February day in 2008, as something that wasn’t significant.

Well, those who know the explosive nature of this derby, will tell you about the savagery of Roy Keane, which ended Alf-Inge Haaland’s career, with the worst tackle football has ever seen, and split this city, in 2001.

The same Keane who, the following year, in his autobiography, “Keane,’’ wrote, ”I’d waited long enough (to try and deliberately injure (Haaland), I f*****g hit him hard, the ball was there (I think), take that you c**t.’’

As of this week, the shocking video had been watched by more than 11.5 million people on YouTube.

But, now, here they were, the same people, from the same city, whose fury had been ignited by Keane’s shocking career-ending tackle, somehow being united, by the power of football, to remember, and respect, those who died in Munich.

For Benjani, this was a defining moment in his life, a reminder that there is so much more which this game can give u, if we use it to help us reach out for love, rather than the hate, which divides us.

For him to see City fans honouring and respecting the memory of the United stars who perished in that tragedy was an amazing demonstration of football’s unifying power.

After all, he is a guy who comes from a country where football is usually used to settle scores, where the environment is usually toxic, where it’s always us against them.

Now, here he was being exposed to the other side of this game, so beautiful, and so powerful.

Here was a guy who comes from a country where some people still doubt his pedigree, including spreading the foolish gospel he owed his rise into a Premiership player more by luck, rather than his qualities.

The very people, who would rather talk about those who failed from their country, rather than those who made it, including a poor boy from Magwegwe, who ended up playing for Manchester City.

How does a fluke of a footballer end up leading the Premiership Golden Boot race as Benjani did during the 2007/2008 season when his hat-trick against Derby County took his tally to 12 goals on January 19, 2008?

Sometimes, I always wonder if what we have achieved, as a small country, has been achieved by other nations, who really value the achievements of their sportspersons, what would those people be doing?

Probably, they would have built a lighthouse, on Mars, to remind Earth of what they have achieved, including, but not limited to, being:

The only African country with a goalkeeper, Bruce Grobbelaar, who has won six English Premiership titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and a European Cup.

The small country with the first African footballer to feature in the English Premiership, when Peter Ndlovu played for Coventry City in August 1992, in the process opening doors for scores of the game’s legends from this continent.

The small country, whose former national team captain Ndlovu, became the first visiting player in 34 years to score a hat-trick at Anfield against Liverpool, with his three goals powering Coventry to a 3-2 victory.

The small country, whose former national team captain Benjani, scored the winner, in the Manchester Derby in February 2018, to help City to their first victory, at Old Trafford, since April 1974.

The small country whose former national team captain, Benjani’s winning goal at Old Trafford in 2008, ensured City won back-to-back Manchester Derby matches, for the first time, since the 1969/1970 season.

But, what do we do?

Well, we spend our lives rubbishing the very achievements, which our heroes have attained because we are largely guided by our senses of hate.

We choose to mock Moses Chunga, for playing at a lower league Belgian side rather than choose to see the reality that during those days the doors into Europe were not as wide open as they are now.

If those doors were as open, as they are today, where would Stix, Shambo, Madinda, Madhobha, Colin Swemwayo, Ndunduma, Jonah Murewa, David Mwanza have played?

Probably England, maybe France, certainly Belgium, even Holland or Germany’s top divisions because, if it’s an inconvenient subject to the haters, these guys were just good, very good.

It’s a conversation we don’t like, because it exposes our hypocrisy and fascination with hate, instead of love, and will remind us we are foolish to even question, as some of us still do, whether Marvelous Nakamba is good enough for the Premiership.

 

THE NUMBER THREE, SOMEHOW, FINDS ITSELF LEAVING ITS FOOTPRINTS JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE

Well, maybe, it is what it is, some things, in this tough world, are not meant to have an explanation — from tragedy to triumph, from joy to sorrow, from hate to love.

Because, I have been asking myself a lot of questions.

From the three hours I spent with Benjani on that road trip from Cairo to Port Said, to the three goals which our 2-1 win over Ghana in our last game at the 2006 AFCON finals.

The other day, I wanted to ask Benjani, why was it that exactly three goals, had to be scored in that Derby at Old Trafford, which his team won 2-1 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary, of the Munich tragedy?

I couldn’t get through to him but, had I done so, I wanted to talk about the number three, and why I keep seeing its print everywhere, when it comes to Munich.

Why is it that the plane crash in Munich had to happen three years after the establishment of the European Cup by UEFA in April 1955?

Why is it that the plane crashed, with such devastating consequences, on what was the third take-off attempt, by the pilots James Thain and Kenneth Rayment of that chartered BEA plane?

Why is it that the decision by the pilots, that they would attempt that third and ill-fated take-off attempt,  was communicated to the control tower at three minutes past three, on that fateful afternoon?

Why is it that the number of those who died, either on the way or at Munich’s Rechts de Isar Hospital, had to be three — journalist Frank Swift, star player Duncan Edwards and Captain Rayment?

Why is it that the number of the team’s backroom staff members, who died in that crash, had to be three — club secretary Walter Crickmer, trainer Tom Curry and chief coach, Bert Whalley?

Why is it that, at the time of that plane crash, United had knocked out exactly three clubs — Irish side Shamrock Rovers, Czech side  Dukla Prague and Serbian side Red Star Belgrade?

Why is it that United scored three goals, and also conceded three goals, in a 3-3 draw, in that match against Red Star Belgrade, the last game before that plane crash?

Why is it that, in the first leg of that quarter-final showdown, against Red Star Belgrade, at Old Trafford, three goals were also scored, with United winning 2-1?

Why is it that, in the first game, which United played, after that disaster, three goals were also scored, with a team made up of largely reserve, and youth team players, beating Sheffield Wednesday 3-0?

Why is it that, at the time of the tragedy, United were aiming to become only the third club, to win three successive English league titles?

Why is it that United have won three Champions League titles and the number three has seemingly become a part of the club’s adventure in search of European football’s biggest prize?

Why is it that, in the second leg, of the semi-final, in 1968, United scored three goals, in a 3-3 draw, to knock out Real in Madrid?

Why is it that United scored three goals, in the second leg, of the semi-final, in 1999, in a 3-1 win in London, to knock out Arsenal?

Why is it that United scored three goals, in the second leg of the semi-final, in 2008, in a 3-2 win in Turin, to knock out Juventus?

Why is it that United’s first European Cup title came after a final, in which the Red Devils’ winning margin, over Benfica at Wembley, was three goals (4-1 after extra-time), in 1968?

Why is it that United’s second European Cup title came after a final, which featured three goals, a 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in 1999?

Why is it that the defining moment of the 2008 Champions League final, which United won in Moscow, came with just three minutes left, in extra-time, when Didier Drogba was sent off for violent conduct?

Had Drogba not been sent off, rather than John Terry, would have taken the fifth, and final, Chelsea penalty and, possibly, the outcome of the match would have been different.

Terry is one of three Chelsea players to play more than 330 times for the club in the English Premiership, with Frank Lampard and Petr Cech being the other two.

And, with Lampard having scored the equaliser, and Cech having saved Cristiano Ronaldo’s spot-kick, United’s third that night in Moscow, was Terry fated to be the unfortunate member of Chelsea’s record-breaking trio, who would fluff his lines, when it mattered most?

Why is it that this was the third time, English clubs had featured in a penalty shoot-out, to decide the champions of Europe?

Why is it that the Moscow showdown came exactly three years, after the last time this tournament had been decided, by this cruel way of the penalty lottery?

Why is it that, in that incredible match in Istanbul in 2005, both Liverpool and AC Milan, had scored three goals, apiece, to take that match to penalties?

And, of course, why is it that the number of penalties which were saved that day in Moscow, as United were crowned champions, was three?

Maybe, some things are better, if they aren’t discussed at all, but Munich changed football.

And, on the 50th anniversary of this disaster, our boy Benjani got a front row seat to see both the power, and beauty, of this game.

 

To God Be The Glory!

Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service and all the Chakariboys in the struggle.

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

Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooooo!

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