The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda
ZIMBABWEAN midfield ace Marvellous Nakamba is making a big statement to the national team coaches through consistently doing business for his Dutch top flight side Vitesse.
The 22-year-old central midfielder, whose career has been on the rise since he made the move from French Ligue 2 side AS Nancy in August 2014, is having a dream season.
Nakamba has played 19 out of 21 league games and his average rating of 7.25 by respected football analytical website WhoScored.com makes him the third best player at Vitesse this season.
Marvellous Nakamba left, Bertrand Traore
This is a massive leap for a player who played only eight games, all off the bench and for a combined 97 minutes, during the 2014/2015 season.
His 1 618 minutes on the park this season puts him at number four on his club’s appearances table.
The Zimbabwean’s passing, especially his mastery of the short passing game and tackling abilities, are rated highly.
He is also described as a player who has good ball retention skills while his surprise shots from distance are listed as one of his several attributes.
“I am trying my best each and every week, hoping that we finish the season on a reasonable position. I am always pushing myself to get better each and every time so that I earn the trust of the coaches,” Nakamba told this publication yesterday from his Dutch base.
The Bantu Rovers product, baked in the same oven that produced the likes of stylish winger Kuda Mahachi and Warriors player Nqobizitha Masuku, has benefited a lot from working with Danish legend John Dahl Tomasson who is Rob Maas’s assistant at Vitesse.
Tomasson scored over 50 goals for Denmark, won the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan in 2003 and was named the Danish Player of the Year in 2002 and 2004.
“It is an honour to work with him (Tomasson), it’s a very big advantage given his vast experience and knowledge of the game. We have fantastic coaches here and our decent league run is testimony to that.
“We have stood toe to toe with the big guns PSV and Ajax, we were just unfortunate to lose against Ajax recently in a game that we dominated,” said Nakamba.
The Zimbabwean played 90 minutes when Vitesse lost 0-1 to Ajax at the famed Amsterdam Arena on January 23.
Nakamba’s purple-patch might tempt national team coach Kalisto Pasuwa into recalling the linkman ahead of the Warriors’ crucial back-to-back African Cup of Nations qualifiersagainst Swaziland next month.
The Warriors, who are joint top in Group L with Swaziland, on four points, will enhance their chances of making it to the 2017 Afcon finals if they claim six points from Silangu.
Guinea and Malawi, who have a point each, complete the group.
Nakamba played a cameo role on his debut when an ill prepared Warriors team shocked Malawi 2-1 in Blantyre on June 13 last year.
He came on as a 67th minute substitute for Knowledge Musona and was played wide.
However, the central midfielder was ignored by Pasuwa when the Warriors were held to a 1-1 draw by Guinea at Rufaro last September.
“It was good to get a call up for the Warriors and beating Malawi in those circumstances was something special for the players.
“It is always an honour for one to represent his country, especially in such grand competitions as the Afcon qualifiers.
“But I would rather talk about my game at Vitesse. But of course, if I am called by the Warriors coach I will try my best, like I always do here week in week out,” said Nakamba.
When Burkina Faso’s fast rising attacking midfielder Bertrand Traore scored his debut goal for Chelsea last Sunday in the Blues’ 5-1 FA Cup fourth round destruction of English Championship side MK Dons, that moment had a massive bearing on the Zimbabwean international.
The 20-year-old Traore, a close friend of Nakamba, scored just five minutes after replacing Diego Costa and even performed the locally popular “Zora Butter” celebration after he had neatly tucked home a cut back by Eden Hazard.
Traore and Nakamba became friends when the Burkinabe was on loan at Vitesse from Chelsea last season.
“It was good seeing Traore score his first goal for Chelsea.
It gives me the urge. Knowing that only last season we were teammates and neighbours strengthens my belief that I can also scale greater heights.
“I am still in contact with him. Chelsea are a big club playing in one of the best leagues in the world and it is everyone’s dream to play in the Barclays Premier League.
“But that celebration (Zora Butter), it is not me who introduced it to him, when we met at Vitesse he was already doing it.
I was surprised too when I first saw him performing it, and he tells me that a friend of his back in Burkina Faso, who is a singer, taught him the dance,” said Nakamba.
