#GOWarriorsGO: Andre Gwaze’s time has come

29 May, 2016 - 00:05 0 Views
#GOWarriorsGO: Andre Gwaze’s time has come Andre Gwaze (centre) in action for his Polish club Gornik Zabrze

The Sunday Mail

Makomborero Mutimukulu
Sports Editor
ONE day, Andre Gwaze decided it was time to dump Wieslaw Grabowski and his tough, if not weird, coaching techniques.
For a full week, the veteran Polish coach demanded that he juggle a tennis ball amid promises that once he mastered the technique, an air ticket to Poland for trials would be handed to him.
But just when Gwaze believed he was close to making Grabowski smile, the veteran coach delivered some confidence shattering words.
“Kurwa (pronounced kurva), I see you are smiling but what you are doing is wrong, and this is not what I taught you. You are not good enough for Europe, even Zimbabwean football,” Grabowski reportedly said.
Kurwa is a derogatory Polish word referring to a prostitute or used as a general swear word, and Grabowski uses it a lot – though he does not want anyone close to him to do likewise.
A shocked Gwaze threw his training bib to the ground and began making his way to the Hellenic Sports Club dressing room.
He was fed up and beginning to rue his decision to walk out on Monomotapa when they were mulling promoting him to their first team.
“And where do you think you are going, kurwa?” Grabowski asked. “Home, I cannot do this anymore. I am doing everything the way you taught me but now you are saying it’s all wrong. I give up,” was the answer.
“So if you are doing it right and you know it why do you doubt yourself? Why are you not saying, ‘No, kurwa, this is what you taught me?’” Grabowski retorted.
Gwaze was speechless.
He put his training bib back on and continued with the tennis ball. Grabowski reckoned the midfielder was ready for Poland.
Eight years later and standing on the verge of making his Warriors debut, Gwaze fully appreciates the value of Grabowski’s unorthodox ways.
“Walking out on that day would have been the biggest mistake of my life,” says the 27-year-old Gornik Zabrze midfielder.
“To play in Europe you need to be tough both physically and mentally so with Grabowski you work on both aspects. He doesn’t send you to Poland until he really believes you are ready. His ways do not make sense until you finally go on trials and you are faced with a hostile situation that needs you to be as tough as steel.”
Grabowski divides opinion and is often termed controversial, but to Gwaze, the DT Africa director is a Polish saviour.
“We have our own special relationship,” says the midfielder, who was a surprise inclusion in the national mend’s soccer squad that will face Malawi in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Harare on June 5.
Of all the things Grabowski promised to come Gwaze’s way because of hard work, a national team call up was the only one still pending up until last week.
Gwaze was starting to lose hope of ever representing the Warriors.
But 10 days before announcing the Warriors team to face Malawi, coach Kallisto Pasuwa called him. And the coach had one question for the lad.
“The coach asked if I was ready to play for the national team and my answer was a loud yes,” Gwaze reveals.
After the call there was the temptation to immediately share the glad tidings with family and friends. However, something – a series of past disappointments and near misses – counseled Gwaze to wait until Pasuwa made it official.
“After talking to the coach I wanted to scream and call my family but decided to wait until the coach made it official. I said to myself ‘Dre hold it, these things can change anytime, this is football’.”
On Wednesday last week Pasuwa made it official and in a flash the whole of Zimbabwe was asking who Gwaze was.
“It’s understandable that fans are asking about this guy that coach Pasuwa has called up because I didn’t feature much on the local scene, they don’t know me,” says Gwaze. “I really don’t want to promise much but one thing I can say is I intend to make the most of this opportunity. Honestly I am a still a bit surprised, I was beginning to think that this day would never come.
“I mean I have been in Europe for seven years now but the coaches never considered me and it is something which really confused my teammates and coaches.”
Comfortable using either foot, Gwaze will give Pasuwa central midfield options as Zimbabwe seek to take a giant step towards Gabon 2017.
“Primarily I am a central attacking midfielder but I can also play on the flanks because both my legs are equally strong,” says the former Dynamos and Monomotapa juniors’ player.
A debut Warriors camp comes with its challenges but the midfielder is hoping that the presence of Costa Nhamoinesu will provide him with a soft landing.
“I played briefly with Costa at DT Africa and am hoping that he will introduce me to the rest of the boys. “Although I don’t know most of the other guys personally I believe the love for Zimbabwe will see them welcoming me and making me feel at home as quickly as possible,” says Gwaze.
One thing Gwaze is sure to bring into the Warriors camp – apart from his size seven-and-a-half boots – is a music selection dominated by Kendrick Lamar, Oliver Mtukudzi and Winky D.
One cannot miss the Lamar influence on Gwaze: the dressing, dreadlocks and massive tattoo on the left hand.
“Lamar is better than Tupac,” he claims. “My polish girlfriend also loves Tuku so Samanyanga gets a lot of rotation in our home. I will take her to a Tuku show when she comes to Zim at the end of the year.”

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