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Sharuko On Saturday THERE was a time when, for about a decade, Rahman Gumbo was the only coach who could boast of having guided our Warriors to a victory away from home. He led his men to a 2-0 win over Rwanda in a 2006 World Cup/AFCON qualifier in Kigali in July 2004. Then, just […]

Sharuko on Saturday IT’S something that has been troubling me these past two weeks — why did I survive and why did Rahman Gumbo have to die? Why did God give me another chance, and why did George Chigova have to die? Rahman was older than me, by a good seven years. But, at 59 […]

Sharuko On Saturday I AM from Mashonaland West! We call it Mash Best, when we are at our bragging best, the home of the biggest artificial lake in the world. It is home — the province where I was born, where I grew up and where I did all my primary and secondary schooling. That’s […]

Sharuko On Saturday IF we run a football quiz, asking fans what do they remember about 1963, when it comes to the beautiful game in this country, it’s likely we will provide us with the same answer. They will probably tell us, without any hesitation, that it was the year Dynamos were born. Others will […]

Sharuko On Saturday HAD FIFA flighted an advert for the man, or woman, whom they wanted to replace Felton Kamambo as ZIFA president, the requirements would have been simple. One of the simple requirements would have been for someone who can pronounce US$32 500 000 without subjecting his tongue into one of its toughest assignments. […]

Sharuko on Saturday TWO weeks ago, a Euro 2024 qualifier grabbed headlines around the world largely because of the nature of the final scoreline — Portugal 9, Luxembourg 0. It was the Portuguese record winning margin since they started playing games on the international scene with a 1-3 defeat to Spain in Madrid on December […]

Sharuko On Saturday FOR years, they have been feeding us the fantasy that football is the most beautiful game in the world. And, to ensure that we swallow this narrative, they attribute this phrase to Pele — the game’s first global superstar. The man who, at the tender age of 17, won the World Cup. […]

Sharuko on Saturday FOR the first time, in more than 30 years in these trenches, I was called a DOG. A barking dog, for that matter. I grew up with dogs, my old man was fascinated with these pets and, at one time, we had six. My favourite was the one we called Sakonzeka, the […]

Sharuko on Saturday  I HAVE always told myself that one of the things I would really love to do, before I call it quits, is to write a book about Moses Chunga. He has the perfect ingredients for a bestseller – the combination of genius and controversy, the mixture of star quality and considerable quantity. […]

Sharuko on Saturday THEY are both icons of the south and share a history built on a foundation of royalty. From the Ndebele Kingdom, King Lobengula and his grandsons, to the Kingdom of Naples, King Ferdinand IV and his royal family. Highlanders and Napoli! Along the way, they have both transformed themselves beyond being mere […]

Sharuko On Saturday WE called ourselves the ‘Fab Five,’ — Basildon Peta, Amos Nyoni, Douglas Rinomhota, Abel Basuthu and yours truly. It was 1990. And, in our small world, we were the Beatles of our journalism school class because we had secured a badge of honour everyone craved for. Zimbabwe Newspapers, publishers of this grand […]

Sharuko on Saturday THERE is a reason why 1983 is considered a watershed year in the history of league football. It’s hard to imagine, in today’s world, that there was a time, when league football wasn’t broadcast live on television, on as regular a basis, as is the case today. English football first arrived on […]

Sharuko On Saturday IN more ways than one, it was the season when the Blue Moon rose and cast its giant shadow on the entire football world. From the ecstasy of Doha to the landmark triumph of Messi, from the historic success story of Pep to the routine championship defence in Paris, the Blue Moon […]

Sharuko on Saturday TINO KADEWERE! The lanky fellow Moses Chunga told us was on the highway to heaven, some kind of football paradise, where the great ones, like Bambo himself, appear to reside. They had met during Tino’s formative years and, when Bambo talks about young talented footballers, we tend to listen. After all, this […]

Sharuko On Saturday SEVEN months ago we said GOODBYE, kissed each other on the cheek and walked away into the sunset, followed by lengthy shadows and eventually darkness. It was over! It’s still over, the romance which the SOS blog gave us, the bond which it created, the love which it provided and the fun […]