Zimpapers Logo

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
IT certainly wasn’t a replica of that watershed Wayne Rooney moment at Goodison Park in 2002, which in an instant, transformed a teenage boy into a man who – with the passage of time, changing of seasons and shifting of responsibilities – would become a football legend for both club and country.

Rooney was 16 when he announced his arrival on the big stage with a stunning goal for Everton in a 2-1 win over Arsenal, the defending champions who were then on a 30-match unbeaten run, and went on to become England and Manchester United’s record goal-scorer.

And, for a domestic Premiership always crying out for the explosion of a fresh-faced talent to provide a ray of hope to filter through the gloom created by the dark clouds of mediocrity that have kept vigil on this top-flight league for years, one moment of genius usually provokes grand expectations of greatness.

Of course, it also usually sparks a stampede from newspaper headline writers weary of singing praises for average footballers, including some shooting stars, whose fleeting light faded quicker than a candle in the wind.

And among football writers, still trapped in the nostalgia of the blitzkrieg of publicity that greeted Peter Ndlovu’s arrival on the big stage, as a Mzilikazi High School pupil, and desperate for the emergence of a genuine star to illuminate the domestic scene.

It also fuels the imagination of football fans, who have been like resident camels in the Sahara Desert, for the rain that will never come or polar bears waiting for the run to shine in the depths of winter in the North Pole.

On Sunday, at the National Sports Stadium, a baby-faced teenage footballer, who will certainly never scale the heights touched by King Peter, let alone dream about grazing anywhere close to the green pastures grazed by Rooney, produced that ‘’wow’’ moment as he introduced himself to the big stage in the best way possible.

Kudzi ‘’KD’’ Dhemere looks very much a 19-year-old, in a domestic game tainted by those age-cheating specialists, who have perfected the art of transforming themselves into youngsters when they have long become men, his baby-face an expression of both youthful exuberance and the promise that his diminutive frame carries in this brutal game pregnant with a number of stories of those who promised so much and delivered very little.

Some of the expectations end up consuming these footballers, like Evans Gwekwerere, whose career virtually ended before it had even started, amid a blitz of excitement, which helped him earn a ticket to the South African Premiership after just four months on the domestic top-flight league before it all started going downhill.

Or Denver Mukamba, the so-called boy wonder, who was crowned Soccer Star of the Year in the month he turned 20, who now finds himself staggering in the darkness of denial, desperation delusion and disaster unfolding on a number of personal fronts.

Dhemere’s tiny frame was put into context by the photograph published in this newspaper yesterday, where he was sandwiched by those two DeMbare fans as he made his lap of honour at the giant stadium, he looked like either the Glamour Boys mascot or a ball boy.

He appeared in a daze in that spotlight as the photographers converged around him, which is probably understandable for someone being showered with such rich praise for the first time of not only having been the match-winner on the afternoon, but having done it in style against the team where heroes – in those blue colours – are born.

About half-an-hour earlier, he had produced the golden moment on which all this delirium in the stands that day, had been extracted from by introducing himself to these fans with a beauty of a strike which made a mockery of his inexperience at this level.

The defining moment came in the early phase of the second period of this Commander ZNA Charities Cup semi-final showdown against CAPS United, when Dhemere gained possession inside the box and, as the level of expectations rose a notch in the stands, it didn’t distract him from his mission.

His control was beautiful, caressing the ball with the inside of his foot, turning to his right and in the process eliminating his marker with relative ease, and as another defender charged in to try and block his shot, he unleashed his effort, the ball swinging into the corner without giving the stranded CAPS United goalkeeper Prosper Chigumba time to move.

For someone so young to buy his time and trust, his instincts that he could beat his marker in that box with a twist of his little frame that provided him with the window of opportunity he needed to pick his spot, a swing of his right foot providing a perfect connection with the ball to send it crashing into that corner for what was a really very good goal, was remarkable.

Many experienced players would have panicked in a similar position, we have seen it again and again on the domestic front, but this kid showed remarkable composure, the presence of mind to create his opportunity and then the finishing touch that provided a beautiful goal.

That it was the moment that made the difference to this game and that he could do all this while playing for a rag-tag team, whose regular players had boycotted duty in an industrial action in which they wanted their outstanding dues paid, made his demolition job of the ultimate enemy , made his goal even more special.

‘’The idea was to tell the youngsters what it means to play CAPS United when you wear that blue jersey and we told them that some great players managed to be recognised after featuring in such derbies,’’ DeMbare coach Lloyd Mutasa said after the match.

‘’And then we talked about Kudzi Dhemere, who had a great show, that he has to come out of his shell after the youngsters showed great potential last year and he looks to take it up from where he left. I am happy for him.’’

Dhemere does not turn 20 until June this year and the Dynamos family even saw enough in him in terms of quality, to name him the club’s Most Promising Player last year.

Of course, that comes with a load of expectations and the onus is now on him to show the country that he isn’t a one-match wonder, who took advantage of the absence of the regulars to produce a moment of magic that sent the wrong signals that he was someone with real substance.

Rooney was a mere 16-year-old forward 16 years ago, when he announced his arrival on the big stage of the English Premiership in particular and to the world in general, with a beauty of a goal as his sensational effort crashed home via the underside of the crossbar for Everton’s winner to end Arsenal’s 30-match unbeaten league run.

King Peter was a mere 17-year-old schoolboy when he introduced himself to the domestic Premiership in a landmark season back in 1990, when – at the end of the campaign – he had charmed just about everyone to win a Soccer Star of the Year accolade he shared with George Nechironga on his way to claiming greatness.

And both these legends went to show, with the passage of time, that they were genuine stars who didn’t deceive those who invested a lot of belief and great expectations in them when they exploded on the big stage.