The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda
Sports Reporter
A DECADE ago, so much hope was placed on this boy, who had dazzled the local Premiership with his sweet left foot.
Kudakwashe Mahachi was voted the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League’s Most Promising Player in 2012, after starring for Chicken Inn, who, in that term, finished third behind Dynamos and Highlanders.
The Most Promising Player award is contested by footballers under the age of 20.
Mahachi had just turned 19 back then. He is now 29, and battling to clear his battered image after a protracted case in which he was accused of scalding his four-year-old son with boiling water.
The minor had his leg subsequently amputated, while Mahachi was cleared by the Bulawayo Magistrates Court.
Tatenda Tumba was the best Under-20 player in the PSL four years ago, before his career deteriorated drastically, forcing the pint-sized player to quit football and relocate to the United Kingdom, where he is pursuing some studies.
Tumba started off well at Harare City, where his dribbling skills and eye for the fine pass captured attention during the 2018 season.
He then moved to CAPS United in January 2020. However, things did not go according to plan at Makepekepe and Tumba returned briefly to City before packing his bags for the UK. It has been a football journey of mixed fortunes for players who have won the Most Promising Player award since 2012.
Interestingly, none of them has gone on to win the coveted Soccer Star of the Year award.
After impressing for the Gamecocks, Mahachi secured a deal with Mamelodi Sundowns in 2014.
He made 13 appearances for the Brazilians, scoring one goal in a rather subdued start to life in the South African Premiership.
Mahachi was rescued by Golden Arrows, who signed the Zimbabwean, first on a loan deal, before a permanent deal was later thrashed.
He scored 10 goals in 67 appearances, during the three seasons he spent at Abafana Bes’thende, before joining Orlando Pirates in 2018.
The former Zimbabwe international played 11 league games for the Buccaneers before he was released after only one season at the Soweto-based giants.
Mahachi then moved to SuperSport United in 2019 and spent four seasons until he was dumped by the Pretoria side in June 2022, when the damning allegations over his son surfaced.
He was cleared by the courts on November 25 and is now club-hunting amid reports that Harare giants Dynamos are after his services.
The 29-year-old winger penned an emotional statement soon after his acquittal.
“During these seven months, I saw my whole world turn upside down,” Mahachi said.
“I was dismissed from my club with immediate effect and no income. I was vilified by a nation that I once was the football darling of and my fate was sealed through social media without trial.
“During these seven months, I lost everything I lived for,” he said.
It was seven months of hell for Mahachi, who only a decade ago, had the nation at his feet, as he was touted as one of the country’s brightest prospects.
In fact, none of the winners of the domestic Premiership’s Most Promising Player award in the last decade, is playing in Europe.
Ronald Pfumbidzai, who won the award with CAPS United in 2013, is trying to reboot at South African Premiership club Chippa United after recovering from a career-threatening injury.
After a horrible time at Danish side Hobro, where he made just one appearance on the bench during the 2015/2016 season, Pfumbidzai retraced his footsteps back to CAPS United.
He won a championship medal with CAPS United in 2016 and featured for them in the CAF Champions League the following year.
That impressive run earned him a move to Bloemfontein Celtic, where he spent five seasons before briefly becoming a Royal AM player when that club acquired the Celtic franchise.
Pfumbidzai has been at Chippa for the last two seasons and is currently back in Zimbabwe for the World Cup-induced break.
He spoke to The Sunday Mail Sport about how his career has panned out thus far.
“Yes, there are ups and downs in one’s career but I cannot ask for more. I believe I have worked very hard for it,” Pfumbidzai said.
The defender believes the groin injury he suffered in 2019 derailed his career.
That injury kept him out for over six months.
“I came to a point where I contemplated quitting. The pain was just too much and I went for almost two years with that pain.
“But I want to thank my wife, she was there for me during the hard times.
“I also had a personal trainer, my friend Fanuel William, during the Covid-19 lockdown. He pushed me and gave me hope.
“So, probably it was God’s plan to be where I am today and I think I am back to my best.”
Pfumbidzai is married to the daughter of his manager Andrew Rusike.
And he attributes all he has achieved in football to his father-in-law.
“He (Rusike) did a lot of things behind the scenes from day one,” says Pfumbidzai.
“He paid for my air tickets when I went to Denmark, sometimes he would also pay rent.
“I had disciplinary issues here and there but he kept me under check. I married his daughter but still work is work . . . he is the father-in-law at home and manager at work.”
Pfumbidzai is in the last six months of his contract with Chippa United.
“I am pushing hard, let’s see what happens. But I think all in all, I have done quite well although I feel I could have done more.
“Sometimes we wish and dream but God decides,” said Pfumbidzai.
Blessing “Bisto” Moyo won the Most Promising Player award in 2014 but only went as far as the South African Premiership.
He had a stint with Maritzburg United in 2016 and 2017 but his career took a nosedive and he returned home.
The 27-year-old midfielder was at local champions FC Platinum last season but his future in Zvishavane is hanging in the balance.
Five years ago, Leeroy Mavhunga, who was still at Yadah, was regarded as the best Under-20 player in Zimbabwe and his future looked bright.
However, since that award in 2017, the direction of his career has not been clear.
Mavhunga turned 24 last week, and is now at Orapa United in Botswana.
Orapa are a top-flight club that is coached by former Harare City gaffer Taurai Mangwiro.
Mavhunga is not happy with the direction his career has taken, although he remains optimistic about a “good future”.
“Not exactly the way (my career) I wanted it,” he told The Sunday Mail Sport from Botswana.
“Yadah refused to sell me when offers came, to an extent that I had to force my way out of the club.
“At some point, I was supposed to sign for Benfica but Yadah refused. Another offer came from Bidvest Wits but they also refused.
“But I have been doing well here at Orapa and a move to Europe is on the horizon,” said Mavhunga, who also had a stint at CAPS United.
Former Dynamos goalkeeper Tatenda Mkuruva won the Most Promising Player award in 2015.
Two years later, he was Zimbabwe’s first choice at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Gabon.
But he is now playing for a third-tier club in the United States called Michigan Stars.
Prince Dube was the best Under-20 player in 2016 but failed to settle at SuperSport United in South Africa after starring for Highlanders.
He returned to Bosso in 2018 and successfully relaunched his career and positioned himself for a move to Tanzanian side Azam FC.
The 25-year-old striker has also seen his career being blighted by injuries.
■ Twitter: @LangtonGuraz
