The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda
HE is not the most vocal player in the Dynamos dressing room.
Even when the choirmaster Peace Makaha leads the singing on the team bus he never joins in, preferring to concentrate on the upcoming task. However, everyone at DeMbare seems to respect him and vice captain Obey Mwerahari calls him the unsung hero while coach Lloyd Mutasa sees this linkman as a vital cog of an engine he assembled from scratch back in February.
This one is about Tichaona Chipunza!
Chipunza is the only player to have featured in all of Dynamos’ 21 league matches this season but his major test comes this afternoon when the Harare Derby explodes at the National Sports Stadium. “These are the kinds of games that can make or break a player,” conceded the 22-year- old midfielder.
“You know people always say every game is the same but that is not true. This one is different. Even at training the intensity goes a gear up when we are preparing to face Caps United. “DeMbare can lose to any other team but not Caps United. We do not want to hurt our supporters, so we are ready to die on the pitch.”
Some of Chipunza’s teammates call him “Kroos”, because they claim to see similarities in his play with that of Real Madrid’s German star Toni Kroos.
Others simply call him “General” because of the way he commands the midfield area. Mutasa simply calls him Ticha. “Ticha is a very important member of the team. He has done so well, he has played in every game and his very consistent … more is coming from him,” said the Dynamos coach.
Chipunza provides that defensive shield when Dynamos are on the back foot and also comes up with those long-range passes when the team is on the break.
His contribution has not escaped his teammates. “Chipunza is a bit reserved but we all know and appreciate how valuable he is to the team. He is the team’s unsung hero,” revealed Mwerahari.
In a year that he got married to his sweetheart Linnet Hamu Vhutuza – who is also expecting – Chipunza wants to cap the 2017 season in style. “I got married in March, my wife is pregnant and I know that more responsibilities are coming my way so I need to work hard.
“Winning the championship with DeMbare would cap a fine year for me, you see. That also comes with more financial benefits,” said Chipunza.
The midfielder believes the title is Dynamos’ to lose. “What makes us favourites for the title is that we are a big team and that helps us a lot because even on away assignments we are more like at home. Our fans always follow us everywhere we go. We only have to push more, focus and win our games,” he said.
Chipunza joined Dynamos from Triangle at the beginning of the 2016 season but nearly quit the Glamour Boys midway through. Lack of game time under Portuguese coach Paolo Jorge Silva frustrated him. “Had it not been for ‘Father’ (Mutasa) I would have left in July last season but the coach sat me down and told me about his plans, imploring me to be patient.
“Mutasa is a true father, he helps players both on and off the pitch. He is one coach who will even discuss zvekumba (family issues) with us. “I am blessed to have worked with a coach like him, the other plus is that coach Zuze (Biggie) is also here and they both love the passing game.”
The DC Academy product relishes midfield battles and is ruing the absence of Ronald “Rooney” Chitiyo from the Caps United team. Chitiyo sealed a deal with Tunisian side CS Sfaxien in early August. “I have played against numerous attacking linkmen but I can single out Chitiyo as the best. Pascal Manhanga of How Mine is also dangerous; they are both short and quick.
“But I would have loved to face ‘Rooney’ to prove a point. That is the essence of the game, competition, it makes us better players,” Chipunza said.
His football career started in Chitungwiza at Seke 5 Primary School before he moved to Zengeza 4 High where a local team Sharp Shooters noticed his talent.
Chipunza was then taken to Darlington Choto’s DC Academy in 2011 and when Triangle got promoted into the top-flight in 2013 the anchorman moved to the Lowveld.
He had a brilliant season under Kaindu at Triangle in 2015 but a massive player exodus at the end of that term forced him to abandon the Sugar Boys for DeMbare where his current contract expires on December 31.
