The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda
Sports Reporter
TOMORROW, red-hot Premiership giants FC Platinum will clock exactly 100 days without conceding a goal. The last team to score against the champions were Herentals, who won 1-0 against the Zvishavane side at the National Sports Stadium on April 30.
A howler by veteran keeper Petros Mhari presented Herentals centre-back Blessing Majarira with a chance to score that solitary goal. Majarira remains the last player to score against FC Platinum in a league match, while Mhari has since been replaced by Wallace Magalane.
And the 28-year-old, an unheralded goalkeeper who was raised in Plumtree, has actually evolved into one of the most famous players in the Premiership.
He has not conceded in 10 games, which translates to 900 minutes of action, or 15 hours.
Magalane is now a favourite for the July Player of the Month award and has become a key member of FC Platinum’s title defence.
He is the last man in a mean defence that is marshalled by veteran and skipper Gift Bello.
Lawrence Mhlanga, Gift Mbweti and Kelvin Mangiza complete the back-four.
However, the spotlight has fallen on Magalane, a shot stopper who is fast rising into a treasure for Norman Mapeza’s side.
Mapeza always famously give his players the same instruction: “If we don’t score, then the opponents should not score!”
The coach is also very vocal on the touchline and usually remains animated even when his team is leading with less than a minute left on the clock.
“It’s all about organisation and keeping the players switched on all the time,” Mapeza says.
“The moment you say it’s over when it’s not, you lose it.
“Defending is not about the defence only, it’s about the whole team,” the former Zimbabwe captain told The Sunday Mail Sport.
Magalane is one of the players who have benefitted from Mapeza’s hands-on approach.
The former Phakamani High School student has also profited from working with celebrated goalkeepers’ coach Tembo “Chokri” Chuma.
Chuma has produced three Goalkeepers of the Year before – Ariel Sibanda (2012), Munyaradzi Diya (2013) and Tendai Hove (2014).
And in Magalane, he could be baking another potential award winner.
“It feels so great to have played 900 minutes without conceding. It’s all about teamwork and working hard as a team,” Magalane said.
“I grew up in a small town called Plumtree and I am proud to have risen to become a player for a team like FC Platinum.”
Keeping a clean sheet is no easy feat.
The fact that Edwin van der Sar, who went for 14 games without conceding in 2008-2009 for Manchester United, still holds the record in the English Premier League emphatically proves this point.
Locally, Magalane is now six clean sheets away from Ariel Sibanda’s record, which he set in 2018.
He has 11 games to achieve that if he remains FC Platinum’s first choice.
“Working with Chuma has helped me and I have learnt a lot as a goalkeeper. He is a coach who always motivates you; he is a coach that every goalkeeper would want to work with,” said the Bantu Rovers product.
After Bantu Rovers, Magalane had a stint with Bulawayo Chiefs between 2013 and 2015 before joining FC Platinum in 2016.
He now has three championship medals with the Zvishavane miners.
“Coach Mapeza always keeps us on our toes and we are always focused.”
Mapeza has built a mean machine that rarely concedes, especially at their fortress at Mandava.
FC Platinum have conceded 16 times in their last 50 games at home, a rate of 0.32 goals per game. It’s a remarkable record compared with the top six top-flight teams.
Ngezi Platinum Stars have the second-best defensive record at home, having conceded 27 goals at Baobab Stadium in their last 50 games.
Dynamos have shipped in 35 goals in their last 50 at home, Highlanders 28, CAPS United 42 and Chicken Inn 47.
FC Platinum are also now stubborn on the road, where they have conceded once in their last 10 games.
At 38, FC Platinum centre-back Bello is still as gritty as he was when he burst onto the limelight at Dynamos a decade ago.
He also starts play from the back intelligently and leads a cast of grafters who include defensive midfielder Rainsome Pavari, Brian “BB” Banda and Innocent Mucheneka.
Upfront, the regular trio of Walter Musona, Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya and Donald Teguru also press the opponents; in most cases, forcing them into mistakes in their own half.
“The players need to know when and how to defend, when to press and what to do with and without the ball,” added Mapeza.
