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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter

TAIMON Mvula’s soul is still a tormented lot.

The Dynamos goalkeeper played a starring role for the Glamour Boys in the Castle Lager Premiership football last season.

He kept 16 clean sheets in 29 matches to help DeMbare to a third-place finish.

And the 29-year-old was a favourite to make the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Soccer Stars of the Year calendar.

But he missed out.

Although he spent most of the season as a front-runner, not only for the Soccer Star accolade, but for the best goalie of the season, Mvula’s reputation took a dip towards the end of the marathon.

He was accused by former coach Tonderai Ndiraya of having been in a match-fixing plot, allegedly organised to topple him.

That was after his horrendous blunder that gifted Black Rhinos an equaliser at Vengere at a time when DeMbare were chasing after leaders and eventual champions FC Platinum.

Mvula together with vice-captain Godknows Murwira were fingered as the main culprits of that alleged plot and the pair suffered the ignominy of being sidelined for the games that followed.

Although Mvula was seemingly pardoned later on, he was never the same player he had been for the majority of the season.

His credibility came under brutal scrutiny by the stakeholders of the game.

Even the soccer star selection panel, composed of 50 journalists, 18 club captains and as many coaches simply ignored his name for the prestigious awards.

It was supposed to be a huge shock when the best 11 of the year was published but no-one seemed to care about his exclusion.

He suffered in his own thoughts and stayed reserved as is his nature.

The former Hwange goalkeeper, however, has a chance to clear his name and lay his stake in the game’s archives after new coach Herbert “Jompano” Maruwa elected to retain him in his new-look team.

And the lanky shot-stopper told The Herald that he will let his football do the talking.

“If you are playing for Dynamos, you obviously become a centre of attraction. Any mistake can actually destroy everything that you would have built along the way,” Mvula said.

“I am a human being and I am susceptible to making errors.

“But I know I am an honest person who knows the value of dignity, especially in football.

“Football is a beautiful game and no human being should harbour any intentions to soil the good image of the game.

“But if people say something about you, then you know that’s life. You don’t have any choice but to put in the work and try to clear your name.

“I suffered a lot in terms of my mentality during those days but the best thing to do was to stay focused, remain in my lane, try hard and play well. Those are chapters that football can open and close for you.”

Mvula said although he was fancying his chances of making the calendar, he was not overly disappointed after missing out.

“I cannot say I deserved to be among the best 11 for the year, no.

“Premiership teams register about 30 players and multiply that with 18 clubs, that’s a lot of talent that we are talking about here.

“Those who deserved to be on the calendar found their way there and that means we should work even harder to be there as well.

“I know as Dynamos, we started the season on a high and as an individual, I was also on top of my game but somehow, along the way we lost it as a team.

“We were looking at winning the league title but then it didn’t go our way. We were responsible as a team and as players for that capitulation.”

He said Dynamos stand a chance to win trophies this coming season.

“If I look at the group that we have at the moment, I see hungry tigers ready to pounce,” said Mvula.

“The passion and the zeal at the training ground tell a huge story.

“I will play my part with extra effort if chosen to play.”

Mvula will, just like last season, compete for the Number One jersey with the pair of Prince Tafiremutsa and Frank Kuchineyi who are some of the few faces from last season’s squad to have been retained by Maruwa.