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Willard Katsande

Ray Bande Mutare Bureau
FORMER Warriors captain Willard Katsande might have cut short his international career by announcing his retirement from international football, but the Kaizer Chiefs hardman says he has set himself a target of playing for seven more years at the very top before hanging up his boots.

The former Highway and Gunners defensive midfielder, one of the best footballers to come out of Manicaland, turns 31 this year.

He signed a new three-year contract at the South African giants after successfully leading the Warriors to a return to the Nations Cup finals for the first time in more than a decade.

Katsande was overlooked by Warriors’ coach Norman Mapeza for the 2019 AFCON qualifier against Liberia, which Zimbabwe won 3-0 at the National Sports Stadium in June, after the former skipper revealed he had retired from international football.

Other reports suggested Katsande was victimised for playing a leading role in the stand-off between the Warriors and ZIFA which resulted in the national team players boycotting a send-off function that had been organised for them by the Government.

Other players who were reported to have been caught in the controversy were striker Cuthbert Malajila and forward Matthew Rusike.

Katsande insists he wasn’t the ring-leader of that move and says he stood guided by his decision to retire from international football to concentrate on his club career where he has emerged as one of the key players at Amakhosi.

The gritty midfielder says he believes he can play at the very top until the age of 38 and is confident he will still be in the trenches of club football, at the very top, fighting battles and giving value to his clubs.

“A man is as old as he feels and I think I will retire after playing for seven seasons from now. I think I can do it and that is what I have set as a target for myself,” he told The Herald.

Asked whether he thinks he can still reach that age while turning out for Amakhosi, let alone secure a transfer to more lucrative foreign leagues, Katsande said time will tell.

“My aim is to reach that age while playing in the top-flight league here in South Africa. Yes, I would love to reach that far playing for Kaizer Chiefs but if any other offer from a better-paying club in a foreign league comes that will be a bonus.”

Orlando Pirates defender Siyabonga Sangweni announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 34.

In Europe, football players tend to hang up their boots after they hit the age of 35, with the likes of Paolo Maldini famously calling it a day after he had turned 40.

In Zimbabwe, just like South Africa, though, many players tend to call it quits at an earlier age, although there are some big names who have defied that.

South African forward Siyabonga Nomvethe is still playing at the age of 38 while the late Bafana Bafana star John ‘’Shoes’’ Moshoeu played competitively past the age of AmaZulu and was still playing for Alexandria United long after leaving Usuthu.

Moshoeu eventually retired at the age of 42 and holds the record as the oldest goalscorer in the South African Premiership after netting for AmaZulu against Kaizer Chiefs in 2007 at the age of 41 years, 11 months and 17 days.

Former Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates striker, Nomvethe, is showing few signs of decline and was the third best scorer in the National First Division with 17 goals in 27 league appearances.

Katsande moved to the South African Premiership when he joined Ajax Cape Town and was then acquired by Kaizer Chiefs in 2011 where he has since grown to be an integral part of the club.

He joined the great Peter Ndlovu in an exclusive club of captains to ever guide the Warriors to the Nations Cup finals.

Ndlovu was the Warriors skipper when the senior national team booked their first tickets to the AFCON finals in 2004 under coach Sunday Chidzambwa.

The former Coventry City forward, who is now working as the team manager at African champions Mamelodi Sundowns, then returned to guide the Warriors to their second appearance at the Nations Cup finals in Egypt in 2006.