Zimpapers Logo

Ray Bande in MUTARE

AGEING Manica Diamonds defence lynchpin Temba Ndlovu, who is joining a rare breed of fine wine athletes, believes that Sunday’s Castle Lager Premiership football clash against log leaders Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium is any man’s game.

Ideally, it is hard to say exactly how but, like fine wine, some athletes actually improve with age. 

While a majority of even the brightest stars in sports in general and, in football in particular, eventually hit a wall, footie stars such as Clemence Matawu, Moses Jackson, Takesure Chinyama, David Kutyauripo, Mkhokeli Dube, Marlon Jani, Mike Temwanjira and Brian Badza, rejected notions of time, hitting their grooves when most of their peers were hitting the couch.

With a spirited performance so far in the heart of the Gem Boys rearguard, the 37-year-old former Motor Action and Dynamos player, Ndlovu, has not only been a regular feature in Manica Diamonds’coach Johanisi Nhumwa’s starting line-up, but also provided in-field leadership to the team by virtue of being their captain. 

The soft-spoken central defender is of the opinion that his team’s encounter against Dynamos in the capital on Sunday will be a tough match for both teams.

He thinks that the better team of the day will walk away with maximum points.

“It is certainly going to be a tough match. Let me say it is going to be 50-50. We need a good result as Manica Diamonds. 

We just have to get a win because we have been settling for too many draws lately and this makes Sunday’s match a must-win for us.

“We just need to start collecting maximum points. 

“Yes, we can win away from home and all we need is to have the right character and attitude too,” said the 2014 Soccer Star of the Year finalist.

For a team that sent early warning shots, occupying the league’s top spot for weeks, Manica Diamonds are suddenly turning into draw specialists.

They are yet to win a match in the previous four rounds of league matches.

Manica Diamonds settled for a one-all stalemate against Cranborne Bullets. They picked up another single point from another goalless draw against FC Platinum at Sakubva Stadium. They then went on to settle for a thrilling 3-3 draw against Chicken Inn at Luveve.

It was a case of a two points dropped than a point gained for the Gem Boys in another disappointing goalless stalemate against Bulawayo Chiefs at Sakubva.

It remains to be seen whether Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash against a wounded DeMbare will add to Manica Diamonds’ number of draws.

About his opinion on the Dynamos Class of 2022, Ndlovu chose to be evasive, saying: “We just cannot judge them now. It is a bit early. Let us wait and see how the season progresses, especially into its last quarter, then we can give a comprehensive assessment of the team.”

Asked about any special treatment that his backline will give to in-form Dynamos forward Bill Antonio, Ndlovu said there is no need to focus on an individual player.

“l don’t know him so there is need to focus on him. We just have to contain the whole team not an individual,” he said.

The boy from Dzivarasekwa, Antonio, joined the biggest football club in the country, claiming a regular starting place, in a fairytale rise to stardom that began late last year when he made the Zimbabwe national Under-20 team for Cosafa and excelled.

Nonetheless, Ndlovu is still confident that the Gem Boys have what it takes to become the second team in domestic football history to wrestle the coveted title away from the dominating big cities of Harare and Bulawayo. 

“Yes, we have everything we need to win this title. We only just need to remain focused, match by match. 

“We just need to have the character to force results and only that way we will be able to get that silverware,” Ndlovu said.

On when he will finally call it quits, Ndlovu said: “I am not yet sure. I might be in my last season in the Premiership. 

“However, my main focus and worry at the moment is not when I will retire it is on achieving what we have set for ourselves as a team.”