The Sunday Mail
“Tendai, you have been playing as a winger for all this while, but I think you are better off as a striker and from next season, I will use you as a striker.”
These words, according to Warriors striker Tendai “Fire 7” Ndoro, were uttered by the late Adam “Adamski” Ndlovu at the end of the 2012 Castle Premier Soccer League season.
Chicken Inn had punched above their weight during their debut season in the top flight league, but Ndlovu felt the team would have done much better with a reliable marksman within their ranks.
And Ndlovu, a revered striker himself during an illustrious playing career, strongly felt that there was something special, but hidden, in Ndoro.
“Everyone was surprised when Adamski spoke of his plans to turn me into a striker . . . even myself I was surprised because all I along I saw myself as a winger,” reveals Ndoro.
Unfortunately as fate would have it, the former free-scoring Warriors gunslinger would not live long enough to see Ndoro’s transformation.
A horrific accident, which injured his brother Peter, claimed his life together with that of a female acquaintance.
With their gaffer gone, Chicken Inn turned to his trusted assistant Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu for the 2013 season.
Mpofu had little hesitation in thrusting Ndoro at the tip of his chosen formation as suggested by Adamski. The move worked like a charm as Ndoro ended the season as the country’s leading striker with 18 goals and also sealed a move to South African Premiership side Mpumalanga Black Aces.
Despite playing for only half a season at Aces, Ndoro was voted among the top 10 foreigners plying their trade in Mzansi’s top flight league by Kick Off.
The football publication said of Ndoro in their citation: “Despite only arriving in January, the Zimbabwean showed his ability and has netted seven league goals this season — more than most strikers have in the entire campaign.
“The 26-year-old looks set to be a star next season, but who will he play for?”
His coach at Aces, Clive Barker, who guided South Africa to the Nations Cup trophy in 1996, says Ndoro is the real deal.
“He has pace and has been able to get in between defenders. Also he is very quick and has the ability to hit the ball very well. He is going to score lots of goals,” Barker was recently quoted as saying.
Now, as the Warriors get ready to square up with Tanzania, the nation hopes that the fire that Adamski saw in Ndoro will ignite.
The unavailability of talismanic forward Knowledge Musona, on loan at Kaizer Chiefs from German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim, due to injury has largely gone unnoticed, thanks to the belief the Warriors faithful have in the former Railstars and Kujatana man.
The speedy forward, who turned 26 while in camp on Thursday last week, takes to the National Stadium in Tanzania high in confidence and reckons the Morocco dream should be built on a foundation of a positive outcome in today’s match.
“We are ready for the Tanzanian challenge. It might not be as easy as some people think, but we have been working hard at training with the coach and if we can only avoid defeat we should then be able to finish them off at home.
“The mood in camp is positive; our hope is that everyone with a role to play in the success of the team plays their part so that we cannot only beat Tanzania but realise our dream of qualifying for the Nations Cup,” said Ndoro, who also lauded the leadership role being played by senior players such as Cuthbert Malajila and Washington Arubi.
Ndoro also spoke of his availability for the tie which doesn’t fall on a Fifa calendar date.
“A national call is not something you can say no to,” he said.
“It is every player’s dream to don their national shirt and the same goes for myself and everyone else.
“It gives me pride and honour that I am a representative of Zimbabwe and appreciate that the national team helps me market myself as a player.”
The striker’s stellar show in Mzansi has not gone unnoticed, with reports suggesting that he is on the verge of a big money move to one of the country’s major clubs.
Ndoro is taking all the speculation in his stride.
“There is a lot of talk about my future, but I am not paying much attention to it as I am focusing solely on our match against Tanzania.
“Just like you, I also don’t know where I will be playing next season, but my desire is to continue playing good football for whichever club I will be contracted to,” he said.
