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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
TWENTY years ago, Desmond “Gazza’’ Maringwa went down after a freak injury at Barbourfields, and his world changed forever.

In just an instant, a dream move to Spanish La Liga side Celta Vigo, as a direct replacement for the combative Frenchman, Claude Makelele who was leaving for Real Madrid, collapsed.

A month earlier, at the National Sports Stadium, Maringwa had overshadowed Quinton Fortune, in a World Cup qualifier, and the prying eyes of the global football spying network had taken note.

After all, Fortune was a Manchester United player and for him, to be subdued by this unheralded midfielder, sent the scouts scrambling to get more information about this rising Warrior.

The tragedy at the giant stadium that day, which left 13 fans dead in a stampede, and the presence of high-profile agents John Fashanu and Ambrose Mendy at that game, combined to give the match a bigger global appeal.

And, as other agents watched it, the interest in Maringwa grew rapidly across European football, which is always on the lookout for fresh, exciting talent from Africa.

That Bafana Bafana side featured striker Benni McCarthy, who was on the books of Celta Vigo, and — as European clubs usually do — the technical staff at the Spanish team reviewed the match with special emphasis on how their player fared.

And, along the way, they kept being charmed by the influence which this 22-year-old, in the Warriors colours, was having on the match and how he was conducting the orchestra, in midfield, in a losing cause for his country.

They liked what they saw, and believed they had found a long-term replacement for Makalele, who had forced a US$15 million transfer to Real Madrid where he emerged as one of the greatest defensive midfielders in the world.

“I had a great opportunity to move to Celta Vigo because they wanted a replacement for Makelele, who was leaving for Real Madrid, and the coach had settled on me and everything was being sorted out in the background,’’ Maringwa reflected on that missed opportunity.

“I was really excited about making a breakthrough.

“Unfortunately, I had that injury and it changed everything and today I can only wonder what might have been if things had not happened the way they happened.

“But, we live a life where we don’t have control of everything that happens to us.’’

Twenty years after the injury that derailed his progress, and shattered his dreams, Maringwa hasn’t forgotten how fate dealt him a cruel blow.

But, he says, time has helped him heal some of the wounds inflicted by the events of that year which probably made a difference between him becoming a millionaire football superstar and life spent wondering what might have been.

“Time has healed the wounds,’’ the former Dynamos skipper told The Herald yesterday.

“You tend to wonder about what might have been if I had moved to Europe.

“It was painful for a number of years and, looking at other players who had gone on to play in Europe and the quality they possessed, really made it even worse.

“There is, indeed, a sense of regret because I could have done more as a football player but, then, what can I do, these things happen and you have to live with that, even though it hurts.’’

Although Celta Vigo were not one of the big teams of the Spanish La Liga, they had been flexing their muscles at around the turn of the millennium.

They beat Liverpool 3-1 in a UEFA Cup match in 1998 and then thrashed Juventus 4-0 in the same competition the following season with Makelele even scoring twice in that match.

His ability to shut down superstars like Zinedine Zidane, Antonio Conte, Edgar Davids and Alessandro Del Piero, in that match, convinced the Real Madrid establishment he was the player they needed to bring balance to their team.

McCarthy used Celta Vigo as a springboard to join Portuguese giants Porto where, after teaming up with Jose Mourinho, won the UEFA Champions League.

The South African forward then played for Blackburn Rovers and West Ham in a professional football career that earned him a net income of about US$16 million.

Ironically, Maringwa was injured at Barbourfields, a stadium he secretly wanted to make his home in the colours of Highlanders, as the Warriors prepared for the COSAFA Cup final second leg tie against Lesotho.

“When I was still an active player, I had a wish of playing for Highlanders,’’ Maringwa revealed this year during the funeral of legend Barry Daka. “The songs that you guys sing in praise of your team really motivated me.

“I felt this urge to move over and be part of this amazing family but eish, that thought, too, brought some shivers because I didn’t know whether I will be accepted but, honestly, Barbourfields atmosphere is something else, second to none.’’

The midfielder, who spent about three years on the sidelines after that injury in August 2000, was never the same when he returned to playing the game again although, now and again, he showed flashes of brilliance.

He was part of the DeMbare team that reached the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League in 2008, scoring the winner in the stunning 1-0 win over the then holders, Etoile du Sahel, in Harare.

Today, Maringwa is now the president of the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe where some believe he has been showing the kind of leadership many believe could shape him into a very good ZIFA president in the future.