The Sunday Mail
Petros Kausiyo
Sports Editor
FOR Klaus Dieter Pagels, news about Denver Mukamba’s social problems and the demons that almost scuppered the Ngezi Platinum midfielder’s career came as a huge surprise and was hard to believe.
But what has never been in doubt on the mind of the German gaffer, who coached Mukamba in the senior national soccer team in 2013, is the player’s talent.
Last week, he told The Sunday Mail Sport that the midfielder “is a special player with special qualities’’.
Pagels, who is now back in his native Germany having served both the Warriors and the Mighty Warriors during a secondment by the European country, was convinced in what he saw in Mukamba that he even surprised many Zimbabweans when he handed the 2012 Castle Soccer Star of the Year captaincy of the senior men’s national team.
“About Denver and his problems, I read in the newspapers. I really was shocked. For me, he was one of the most talented players of his age.
“To push his self-confidence I gave him the captain’s armband. He took this very seriously and was really proud. He performed very well. I hope he is well now and enjoys life.
“He is such a special player and his movements on the pitch are special,” Pagels said.
Pagels, just like Moses Chunga and his famed Kidznet project at Dynamos, was courageous enough to assemble a Warriors squad of young players that included Knowledge Musona, Quincy Antipas, Partson Jaure, Abbas Amidu, Archieford Gutu and Silas Songani.
“Yes, we started a project with young, talented players in 2013. I think we did very well. We, as coaches, knew that there was a lot of talent in these boys.
“We trusted them, gave them a new idea to play football and pushed their self-confidence. They did very well. The board did not want to continue with the coaching team. It was a pity because all of the coaches wanted more time to work with the players,’’ Pagels said.
Pride
He takes pride in not only giving Mukamba his Warriors break, but the entire group that also included the likes of Augustine Mbara, Ronald Chitiyo, Mathew Rusike, Hardlife Zvirekwi and Ocean Mushure.
That class of 2013 would go on to make a huge impact as the Warriors reached the CHAN semi-finals in Cape Town the following year.
They also excelled at their clubs.
“Most of the players went on to do well at their clubs and in the national team. Thinking of that, I am sure our project was a really good one.’’
Yet Pagels refuses to take any credit for providing the players such a platform.
“Football is my life. I do not need credit from anybody. I only want success for the team. If the team works hard to reach their dreams, the coach is happy.”
Mukamba’s qualities have also enchanted Premiership trendsetting coach Kalisto Pasuwa and Ngezi Platinum Stars mentor Rodwell Dhlakama.
Pasuwa, now based in Malawi, blazed a remarkable trail with Dynamos by winning four successive championship titles between 2011-2014, during which Mukamba reached his crowning moment in 2012 before being snapped up by Bidvest Wits in South Africa.
“Well, the story about Denver is a very complicated one because what I knew, or simply my experience with the boy is very different from what I hear about him from the media or people ever since the time he left Dynamos for South Africa.
“At Dynamos, during my era, he was a very disciplined and jovial Denver. He was very determined to perform at the highest level just like any other player I had that time, hence his transfer to the ABSA Premiership,” said Pasuwa.
“He was a guy who was very punctual, hardworking and a confidence-booster for the team. People might want to say a lot about Denver, but if the truth was to be told, I have known him from his days at DC Academy together with Charles Mukanhairi.
“Those days he has even younger, but still was so focused. I took him as my son to the extent that I would visit him at his home and even had meals at his house. Gogo (Kawinga) vaitobika todya tese, lecturing about football and life in general just like I did with the other players like Mutuma (Rodrick) and Ocean (Mushure), to mention a few.”
Pasuwa wanted the talented player to remain focused so that he could go abroad.
At Dynamos, the gaffer placed Mukamba under the tutelage of “senior guys like Desmond Maringwa, George Magariro and David Kutyauripo”.
“I enjoyed the boy’s company, so this new Denver I now hear I don’t even know how it came about and what went wrong,” he said.
Just like Pagels, Pasuwa coached the Warriors and the national Under-23 sides and was the first to give players like Marvelous Nakamba, McCauley Bonne and Tatenda Mukuruva, Farai Madhananga their national team call-ups.
“When you have players like Denver . . . we as coaches sometimes need to use the cooperative coaching style so that a player feels that he is important around you, rather than the command style which I feel can push them away. Remember, the more you squeeze a wet tablet of soap in your hand, the more it slips away.”
Mukamba was said to be going through some social problems related to drug abuse and truancy. When efforts were made to help the lanky midfielder, including calling in pastors and prophets to give him wise counsel, it did not yield any fruits at that time.
Dhlakama first coached Mukamba in the Young Warriors before re-uniting with him at Chapungu last season, where the star midfielder was given a new lease of life.
He also signed him at Ngezi at the beginning of the year, but the player is yet to make his debut for the miners due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has stopped football activities.
“Denver is a talented midfielder who has gained a lot of experience over the past decade, from captaining the junior national team to playing for at least four Premier League sides in South Africa.
“He has played in the CAF Champions League and has played for the two top Harare teams and scored goals (and) created assists. At 27, his career has been affected here and there by social matters, but this year he put his career in order . . . to be the old Denver that football fans fell in love with.
“Mukamba also showed his dominion in the local league last season during a six-month stint at Chapungu, scoring eight goals in less than 15 matches.
“His high tempo and swift dribbling skills managed to help him unlock and penetrate more solid defensive backlines in the local arena.”
He, however, believes that the player is often misunderstood.
Dhlakama said: “This time Denver has reorganised himself, rediscovered his form and has enjoyed his comeback after having been signed by Chapungu during my spell.
“Having groomed Denver . . . as a junior player, I have fashioned a more than coach-player relationship as he looks up to me as a father figure from a football perspective . . .”
Fatherhood, he added, had also given Mukamba a greater sense of responsibility.
“Players that are talented and misunderstood also have a prospect to be fully rehabilitated and get a total career overhaul.
“He has recharged, he has a new mentality driven by his family responsibilities as he is now a father. Being an intelligent player, he will complement our midfield and amplify our offensive penetration and will predictively score very good goals and supply very good assists,” he said.
