The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda – Sports Reporter
INCONSPICUOUS by nature, cool and yet dependable, the publicity-shy Dynamos centre-back Themba “Munhu Mutema” Ndlovu is emerging as the team’s bedrock as the champions heighten their quest for a fourth consecutive league title.
Ndlovu has featured in all of DeMbare’s 22 league matches, commanding the league’s best defence.
DeMbare have conceded 12 goals at a rate of 0.45 per game and kept 10 clean sheets, as coach Kallisto Pasuwa once again anchors his team’s campaign on a punishing defence.
The champions’ impressive defensive record can partly be attributed to Ndlovu’s no-nonsense style at the heart of the DeMbare defence.
The 29 –year-old has formed a complimentary partnership with the lanky Augustine Mbara since the departure of the trusted Partson Jaure during the mid-season.
It is not easy adjusting to the demands that come with playing for the country’s most successful team, the former Motor Action and Buffaloes man concedes.
“You are always under pressure at Dynamos because you are not playing for yourself,” Ndlovu said during a lunch-time interview.
“Sometimes it is like you are not even playing for the club, but for the whole nation. The pressure is just too much; it is different from the other clubs I have played for where sometimes we would play for a draw. At DeMbare you are expected to win everything on offer; the heat is just too much, my friend.
“But I have managed to take it all within my strides, thanks to the influence of some senior players at the club like Murape Murape and Tawanda Muparati.”
Having started slowly, Ndlovu is surely getting out of his shell and the defender was at his usual best last weekend as Dynamos brutalised lifelong rivals Highlanders — the team Ndlovu supported from childhood — to clinch the inaugural TM Pick n Pay Challenge Cup played in front of almost 40 000 spectators at the giant National Sports Stadium.
However, if he had followed his heart, the defender would have been featuring for Bosso this season.
Ndlovu reveals that it was former Dynamos hitman Cuthbert Malajila who sweet-talked him into joining the Glamour Boys when the two had a lengthy chat during the CHAN finals in South Africa at the beginning of the year.
Ndlovu, who was part of the 2014 CHAN squad, is a close friend of Malajila, with the two having shared almost everything, including the washing line, during their childhood days in the blazing streets of Rimuka, Kadoma.
“Malajila advised me it was better to join Dynamos than any other local team and I should admit he was right,” he said.
It was also back in the small mining town of Kadoma where elder players in the community like former DeMbare hard tackling defenders Kaitano “Ngwenya” Tembo and the late Watson Muhoni also played an inspirational role to a young Ndlovu.
“I admired the way Muhoni played, he was my hero as I grew up in Rimuka. Although I never liked DeMbare, Ngwenya also inspired me a lot.
“I was a staunch Bosso supporter until the end of last year and could have joined them at the start of the season.
“Another good offer also came from Harare City, but a lengthy discussion with Carzola (Malajila) changed the whole picture.
“Malajila swayed me in favour of DeMbare and so did Jaure, whom I related to easily during the CHAN finals. I do not regret the move. In fact, I feel my career would have been better had I joined the club earlier,” said Ndlovu.
He has four months left on his contract with Dynamos and his wish is to lift the championship yet again, having done so with the now defunct Motor Action in 2010.
“We can easily lift the title if we stay focused. Now is the time to get down to serious business and the coach has emphasised that.
“Yes, it was not easy filling Jaure’s shoes, but I think I have done my best. I have gelled well with Mbara, whose height is complimentary. The fans should trust us, we will defend the goal area and the title as well,” said Ndlovu.
The Bulawayo-born player has passed through the hands of various respected coaches during his previous stints with David Whitehead, Eastern Lions, Motor Action and Buffaloes.
He has worked with Brenna Msiska, Friday Phiri, Taurai Mangwiro, Joey Antipas, Saul Chaminuka and Pasuwa, but reckons the latter is the most demanding among the lot.
“Coach Pasuwa is the toughest coach I have ever worked with. Sometimes you feel his strictness is too much, but I have come to realise it is for the good for my career.
“He is a good motivator, with his guidance I do not see us slipping. We will defend our title until the last drop of blood if need be,” declared Ndlovu, as we seem to have concluded our lunch time chat.
Then he says: “Please, do not forget to mention my wife Hazel and our daughter Hazel junior, they are the reason why I am even prepared to die on the pitch.”
