The Sunday Mail
Makomborero Mutimukulu Sports Editor
LEONARD TSIPA seems to have an apology tucked away somewhere safe, as he sounds the same each time he messes up. The veteran Caps United forward was at it again last weekend, getting red-carded for head-butting Peter Muduhwa in an off the ball incident during the Battle of the Cities 1 with Highlanders at Barbourfields. Tsipa’s moment of madness early in the second half cost Makepekepe the game and as he is wont to do after every screw up, Tsipa was quick to apologise without sounding sincere in the least bit.
“During the game he (Muduhwa) was abusive, uttering unprintable words about my parents that I cannot repeat,” said Tsipa. “I failed to control my temper and realised immediately that I had done wrong and would like to assure everyone that it will not happen again.
“My expulsion affected me big time. Even when I went to the dressing room I could see that my actions had put my teammates under pressure. The team ended up losing and after the match I said sorry to the team and the coaches.”
Very few at Makepekepe are taking Tsipa seriously. They suspect he will do it again. Because he always does. When it comes to Leonard Tsipa, history has a way of repeating itself. In March 2008 the striker made his Dynamos debut against (yes, you guessed it) Caps United at Gwanzura and he barely lasted five minutes on the park.
Tsipa was sent off for head-butting Makepekepe skipper David Kutyauripo as tempers reached volcanic levels in a feisty derby that ended 1-all. With Tsipa fresh from an unfruitful stay in the United Kingdom the equally hot-headed Kutyauripo played the card that many use to mock those based in the Queen’s land.
“When Lenso (Tsipa) came on as a substitute I said ‘ukunhuwa, dai wadzokera kunogeza chembere kuUK kwako uko’ (You are smelly, just go back to the UK and bathe grannies). “At first he appeared as if he could handle the mind games, but he exploded and head-butted me. He didn’t make real contact but I made the most of it and the referee (Kenny Marange) duly sent him packing,” recalls the retired Kutyauripo.
And just like he did last week, in 2008 Tsipa followed up his Harare derby madness with an apology that contained the now infamous “words-I-cannot-repeat” excuse. “He (Kutyauripo) said unprintable words to me and some were meant to degrade the short stint I had in the United Kingdom saying I was taking care of elderly people … words that I cannot even repeat.
“I am happy with my new club and will not let those disturbing things affect my focus, I am not a youngster anymore,” Tsipa said at the time. Going forward only a fool who is ready to be quickly parted from his money will bet against Tsipa exploding again and then apologising with the “words-I-cannot-repeat” caevat.
In 2005, Tsipa reportedly teamed up with friends from his Mbare neigbourhood and assaulted a Caps United marshal, Masirira Silingwani.
Silingwani’s crime: denying Tsipa’s friends free entry into a Makepekepe match against Black Rhinos. A year earlier Tsipa had been sent off for punching Buymore defender Richard Kola in an ill-tempered OK Woza Bhora first round clash at the National Sports Stadium.
It seems that the more things change the more they remain the same with Leonard Tsipa. Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is an ISO certified hot head.
