The Sunday Mail
EIGHT years ago Elisha Muroiwa temporarily quit football and took up carpentry in Botswana as life took a nasty turn.
When I remember the years when I struggled to raise bus fare for training sessions, the separation of my parents and that period when I was doing menial jobs in Botswana…I get emotional,” said the Warriors and Dynamos defender.
The 27 –year old defender is part of Kallisto Pasuwa’s provisional Afcon squad and today he spends Christmas away from his family as he is with the national team in Ivory Coast.
Muroiwa is not only missing Christmas with his family, he is also missing the day his daughter Tadiswa Channelle marks three months on earth.
But having gone through a lot to be a footballer of repute the defender is not complaining.
“It is offseason and every player would want to rest and enjoy Christmas with family at home.
“But due to work commitments I can’t even attend a small party that we had organised for my daughter Channelle who will be three months old on Christmas Day,” said Muroiwa just before the Warriors’ departure for Abidjan.
It has been a “fantastic” year for the central defender , who made his Warriors debut against Swaziland on March 25 and married his lover Faith Dzinavatonga a month later.
“This has been one of my best year,” said Muroiwa.
“When I think of my history I sometimes feel like it’s a dream. I have always wanted to play for the national team but there was a time when it seemed as if that dream will remain just a dream.
“Away from football I got married and was blessed with a daughter. Unfortunately I can’t be with my family to celebrate our first Christmas but will do something when we return from Côte d’Ivoire.”
An ankle injury sustained back in May during the Cosafa Cup had threatened to jeopardize Muroiwa’s chances of making it into the Afcon squad.
However, the Dynamos man recovered just in time and is in contention for one of the 23 available places on the plane to Afcon 2017.
Pasuwa is expected to trim the 31-man provisional squad to the mandatory 23 on January 2, just before the Warriors’ departure for the finals.
And the DeMbare hard man, who was discovered in the streets of Glen Norah by the late Gishon “Gizha” Ntini, hopes to make the final 23.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for me. I hope to play well in Ivory Coast and impress the coaches,” said Muroiwa whose football journey began with Caps United’s Under 13 side.
He was recommended to Caps United by the late Ntini after the demise of Glen Norah Football Club , an Area Zone team that Muroiwa featured for during his Primary School days at Kundai.
“I was then awarded a scholarship to do my secondary school at Prince Edward and that is how I got in touch with the likes of Qadr Amini and Leonard Fiyado.”
At the age of 16 Muroiwa quit soccer after the separation of his parents Richard and Florence.
He could no longer afford bus fare to training sessions and three years later he migrated to Botswana where he worked as an assistant carpenter.
So tough was his situation that Muroiwa would supplement his meager earnings by playing social football matches that had bets placed on them.
Zimbabweans who watched him play in those social games encouraged him to return home and he heeded the call.
Muroiwa joined FC Harare Sporting, a Division Two side that was coached by former Black Rhinos goal poacher Maronga Nyangela and Sammy Mavenyengwa.
In 2011 he was at Highfield United where teammates called him “Huni” because of his lack of skill.
“I was not good at the passing game. My strength was in marking,” revealed Muroiwa.
With the help former Warriors keeper Gift “Umbro” Muzadzi the defender moved to Highfield United and in no time Muroiwa was captain of the team that later became Twalumba FC.
Pasuwa, who was then still at Dynamos, was alerted by his scouts and began to follow Muroiwa’s rise.
After the departure of Partson Jaure to ABSA Premiership side University of Pretoria in July 2014, Pasuwa signed Muroiwa. And as they say, the rest is history.
