2810-1-1-SHARUKO MIDDLE 29 OCTOBER

FOOTBALL CHEERED A NATION BURDENED BY THE NEGATIVITY OF ITS LINKS WITH THE GUPTAS AND THE CHAOS AT ITS UNIVERSITIES
THIS week, two years ago, South Africa was mourning, overwhelmed by the tragic events of the night of October 26, 2014, at the Vosloorus home of singer and actress Kelly Khumalo, where Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa was shot and killed.

Even for a country with a shocking high murder rate, with an average of about 50 murders a day, Senzo’s killing sent shockwaves and plunged the nation into a painful soul-searching exercise last seen when reggae icon Lucky Dube was shot dead, again in the ill-fated month of October, in Johannesburg in 2007.

They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. As fate might have it, Senzo was killed in the week leading to the Soweto Derby — that showdown between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs — and such was the impact of his death, the match, scheduled for November 1, 2014, had to be postponed.

Wednesday marked the second anniversary of Senzo’s death and just like two years ago, it’s the week leading into the Soweto Derby with Pirates and Chiefs locking horns at the FNB Stadium this afternoon.

Time, though, is a healer.

While the emotional scars inflicted by Senzo’s death still weigh heavily on South Africa’s conscience, with protesters pouring into the streets on Wednesday to demand answers as to why his killers haven’t been captured, football this week provided the country with a rainbow of relief that has been cheering its tormented soul.

Mamelodi Sundowns’ fairy-tale success story in the CAF Champions League, which culminated with the Brazilians transforming themselves into champions of Africa on Sunday night, came just three days before South African football paused, once again, to remember that day when Senzo was swept away from its landscape, by a hail of bullets, into the shadows of history.

A country, which only two years ago was in turmoil as it struggled to come to terms with the murder of its beloved national team captain, united this week in grand celebrations — which destroyed the barriers of fierce inter-club rivalry — as Mzansi generated, and flaunted, a lot of national pride in the success of the Brazilians.

Football, this very beautiful game, flexed its beauty on Sunday night into a rainbow of colours for South Africans to display proudly, in their hour of triumph, as its power cheered the spirits of a nation burdened by the negativity of its association with the Guptas, the darkness of state capture, the sheer madness at its universities and the poisoned waters of its politics still battling to be purified from the legacy of apartheid.

The beauty of the game, thanks to the magical events in Alexandria on Sunday, also cast a powerful ray of light through the darkness of a week which will always be associated with those tragic events of that day in Vosloorus when, as hip hop superstar Sean Combs, also known as Puff Daddy or P Diddy, in his hit song in tribute to the Notorious BIG, “I’ll Be Missing You”, tells us:

In the future, can’t wait to see

If you open up the gates for me

Reminisce some time, THE NIGHT THEY TOOK MY FRIEND

Try to block it out, but it plays again

When it’s real, feelings hard to conceal

Can’t imagine all the pain I feel

Give anything to hear half your breath

I know you still living your life, after death.

For a country where failure in football has become part of their DNA, with Bafana Bafana failing to qualify for the 2017 Nations Cup finals, whose Springboks have lost their way in international rugby, they were not only humiliated by their old enemies the All Blacks, but now even lose to Argentina in their backyard, whose cricketers continue to choke on the big stage, in collective failure that forced the Sports Minister to coin the famous phrase “A BUNCH OF LOSERS”, Sundowns’ heroics were from another planet.

You really don’t need to be a Sundowns fan to appreciate the beauty of their fairy-tale, a success story written in stars that have cast a light of joy across the entire Southern African region and the Rainbow Nation needs to be given credit for refusing to be divided by inter-club rivalries to unite and have the presence of mind to see the bigger picture of what the Brazilians’ triumph represented for their nation.

When Sundowns stepped into the ring for the final showdown against five-time champions Zamalek, somehow having risen from the debris of being knocked out in the second round by AS Vita, before the Congolese disqualification provided them with a lifeline, they had long ceased to be fighting their club’s battle, but were now fighting a battle for their country and also their region.

When the Brazilians confronted Zamalek in that final showdown, somehow having dusted themselves from the humiliation of being knocked out of the second-tier Confederation Cup, where they had dropped after the defeat to AS Vita, by obscure Ghanaian side Medeama SC, they had long ceased to be fighting their own battle, but were now fighting for 50 million South Africans and more than 180 million who call this southern tip of the world home.

And, boy oh boy, they delivered in style.

If this was the final act to provide legendary Brazilian World Cup winning captain Carlos Alberto, who died at the age of 72 this week, with a reminder of the heights which, those who remain bewitched by the magic his immortal team delivered in the Mexican sunshine in 1970 (to such an extent they even copy the kit they used in that triumph), dream of scaling in their pursuit of the greatness which those Brazilians represented, then it was a fitting farewell to the great man.

IT’s A STUNNING SUCCESS STORY THAT ALSO BELONGS TO US

As South African partied this week, some of us who partied with them feel we have a right to do so, because we believe we had a huge stake in the investment that finally yielded this massive dividend and while this is a Mzansi triumph, you can’t resist the feeling that it also, in a way, belongs to us.

After all, our boy from Mufakose, the neighbourhood of football legends, played a very influential role in this Sundowns’ march to greatness, scoring three goals along the way, the best goal-return by a Sundowns player in this campaign.

Chances are that this Sundowns’ success story would not have come true had the injury that forced Khama out of the preliminary round, first leg tie against Chicken Inn at Barbourfields, which the South Africans lost 0-1, persisted and ruled him out of the second leg in Pretoria.

But, once he had recovered to take his place, everything fell into place and after he flighted the ball beyond the Gamecocks’ defence for his teammate to head home and then with 90 minutes on the clock and the tie delicately balanced at 1-1, he suddenly burst into the danger area, a trademark sudden change of pace creating acres of space ahead of him, a movement pregnant with such beauty he looked more of a ballerina dancer than a footballer, gliding his way towards goal.

One-and-half hours of a fierce contest, which had tested both sides to the limit, was drawing towards a close and in that showdown Khama’s diminutive frame — not 100 percent fit by the way — had taken a battering from his countrymen, with the forward having been hit from the left, from the right, from the back and from the front.

And where mere mortals would have long been consumed by the intensity of the battle, lost the energy to keep fighting on, let alone run at levels we had seen at the beginning when freshness was everywhere, Khama was suddenly speeding off at lightning pace, as if he had just been introduced into this epic fight as a last-minute replacement.

He was past the first Chicken Inn defender before he even knew what was happening and as he cleared that hurdle, it became apparent that danger was now looming, a combination of pace and control having created a window of hope for the Brazilians, the beauty encrypted in the swagger of his movement, the mastery of the an artist who believed in himself and his God-given skills.

Poor Passmore Bernard, already in the shadow of the movement as the attack was about to enter the penalty box, clipped Khama from the back and the referee, certainly not standing in a position that gave him the authority to make a critical decision, pointed to the spot even though television replays, showed the initial contact had happened just outside the box.

Katlego Mashego converted the penalty and Sundowns survived to fight another day in the Champions League, thanks to the defining contribution of Khama, who would then go on to score three goals and become his team’s most potent weapon in the Brazilians’ march to the Promised Land.

It should have been four goals, actually, but his best of this Champions League campaign was lost in the storm of that expulsion of Algerian side ES Setif in the wake of the crowd trouble that erupted after Sundowns beat them 2-0 in their backyard with Khama scoring a wonder goal just after the hour mark.

Picking a pass from Keegan Dolly, just after the halfway line on the left channel, he flicked the ball with his left foot, fooling his marker as if he was about to storm down that left side, then eliminated another defender, beat a third defender, all without breaking stride and then firing home via the near post.

Class, absolute class and it’s a pity that goal — just like the result of that match — was washed away by the expulsion of that Algerian side and the nullification of Sundowns’ victory.

Oh, by the way, Cuthbert Malajila, also played his part in this Sundowns’ triumph before he moved to Bidvest Wits, the immortal Peter Ndlovu is the team manager and we also helped the Brazilians, two years ago, when they launched their ambitious drive to conquer Africa, by offering them camping facilities — which Pitso said toughed his men to face the challenges of playing on the continent — when they came here and played Highlanders, CAPS United and Dynamos.

Of course, what will cheer our spirits even more is seeing one of our clubs conquer the continent and if Chicken Inn, rookies in the Champions League, beat Sundowns at Barbourfields before a questionable penalty knocked them out in Pretoria, then, surely, in terms of quality, we can’t say we are too far off the pace.

It’s the organisation that we lack and once we get that right, who knows?

CURSING MBWANDO WHEN PITSO IS EVEN COURTING BRA SHAKES

Last week, ahead of the Battle of Alexandria, Pitso Mosimane invited Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba to come and help him and his team, clear the final hurdle with the national team gaffer even addressing the Sundowns players and giving Pitso technical and tactical tips.

Even though Sundowns had won the first leg 3-0 and beaten Zamalek home and away in their Group games, Pitso still felt that, to clear the final hurdle in Egypt, he needed a helping hand from someone who could offer an alternative opinion and add value to their technical masterplan.

Mashaba actually travelled to Alexandria, as part of the official Sundowns delegation, was there at their training sessions taking down notes and when victory was secured, we saw him celebrating with the team in their dressing room.

That Pitso and Shakes had publicly clashed this year, over the Sundowns players in Bafana Bafana, didn’t matter and was buried for the cause of their nation.

That’s what is called unity of purpose, because the assignment in Egypt had long evolved from just being a Sundowns baby into a national cause and you have to give credit to Pitso for putting the interests of his club and country, ahead of personal glory, after realising he needed a helping hand for the final push.

Of course, the glory for Sundowns’ triumph is all for Pitso because he is the man who masterminded this success story from day one and we haven’t even heard Shakes claiming he should be given any credit for the success.

Against that background, I can’t understand all the criticism that George Mbwando is getting for daring to suggest he could go on a spying mission, for his country, to get data on the Tunisian, Algerian and Senegalese players who are playing in Europe, note their strengths and weaknesses and pass that vital information to Warriors coach Callisto Pasuwa.

Mbwando is a holder of a UEFA coaching badge and having spent about 20 years exposed to football in Europe, knows a thing or two about how football has evolved into this scientific sport where analysis of the data of the opposition is as important as getting the right players to field in your team.

For us to then insult him, asking where he was when we were playing Malawi, who don’t have high-profile players in Europe, when we were playing Swaziland, who don’t have players in Europe, is certainly way off the mark. Those who have been to Europe know that one doesn’t need a fortune to go all over the place on holiday, airfares are cheap, you can do it by train because this isn’t as huge a continent as Africa and knowing George he doesn’t need an attachment, to help his country, for his holiday stuff.

Yes, he criticised Musona when he wasn’t flexing his muscles to stay in Europe because he believed that is where his talent belonged, not in South Africa and — at that stage of his career — the Smiling Assassin needed someone who could be brutally frank with him and that’s why he is now back in Europe. George isn’t saying he wants to be part of the Warriors’ coaching staff, he made that very, very clear.

When the Warriors qualified for the 2006 Nations Cup finals, Charles Mhlauri realised he needed a European coach to help him and recruited a Dutchman Dick De Boer because, in his words, “the analysis, deliberations and plans have to be rich in detail if we are to make better decisions (because) we are still far behind in closing the gap with Europe.”

Mhlauri’s reward was that his team came within just one goal, which we actually scored and was disallowed under questionable circumstances, of qualifying for the quarter-finals after beating a World Cup-bound Ghana in the Group of Death.

But, then, worry not George Boy, that’s what we are as a nation mate and rather than keep praising the Dynamos team of ’98 for the miracle they performed to reach the Champions League final, we even mock them for failing to win it saying football doesn’t remember those who come second.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooo!

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Chat with me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @Chakariboy, interact with me on Viber or read my material in The Southern Times or on www.sportszone.co.zw. The authoritative ZBC weekly television football magazine programme, Game Plan, is back on air and you can interact with me and the legendary Charles “CNN” Mabika every Monday evening.

 

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