The Sunday Mail
THE South Africans have been suffering from oral diarrhoea since their Under-23 side outplayed but failed to beat us in an Africa Championships qualifier at Rufaro last Sunday.
Our noisy neighbours to the south, with whom we played out a one-all draw, are churning out a lot of crap and have already written us off ahead of the second leg next weekend.
This Rainbow Nation of chokers, this nation that once celebrated qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations when they had in fact missed the ticket by a single goal, never learns.
Amaglug-glug assistant coach Shaun Bartlett epitomised the overconfidence in their camp when he waxed lyrical after the first leg.
The former Bafana Bafana star rather foolishly reckons Zimbabwe does not have the capacity to come out of Mzansi with a positive result.
He will surely learn a lot this year.
It’s not a threat. Just a promise.
The South Africans are also raising issues about the late penalty that allowed the Young Warriors to restore parity.
“In the 82nd minute they got given a penalty, which was eish . . . from where we sat it was difficult to take but we can’t harp on that although it looked very dubious,” coach Owen Da Gama was quoted as saying by Sports 24 last week.
Zambian referee Stanley Hachiwa pointed to the spot following a handball by the visitors’ skipper Ishmael Mngonyama.
There was nothing dubious about that call.
One good thing about the noises our neighbours are making is that they are piling the pressure on their sorry selves.
Their countrymen will expect them to run over Kallisto Pasuwa and his men when they play at home because they are making it seem as if coming to Harare was going to a warzone.
In the comfort of Mzansi, Amaglug-glug should thrash the Young Warriors, isn’t it?
Well, well life is not that easy.
In Pasuwa we have a man who can plot a sensational smash and grab. Ask Cameroon. Ask Swaziland. Ask Malawi.
South Africa might have had most of the possession in the first leg but all of that yielded a single goal.
Football is about scoring goals and our Young Warriors are capable of getting a couple away in South Africa.
This one is not over yet. Not by a long shot.
Something inside me points to the Young Warriors grabbing a ticket to the African Championships next weekend.
As long as Pasuwa does not run into work-related problems with Zifa and his wingman Pio Mhizha gets the time he needs to put the “maths” together, we will get the result we need.
You see, with Pasuwa football is played before it’s played.
It’s all spiritual.
Some games are fasted for, others have holy water, while others yet have covenants.
It’s an approach that has served him well. However, it seems not to have worked for Lloyd Mutasa who was recently reported to have dumped the Apostolic Sect for one of these traditional churches.
So do we continue referring to Mutasa as father?
Who is a legend?
I read a story on the Copa Coca-Cola tournament in Bulawayo last weekend, and was astounded to see players like Joel Lupahla, Ronald “Gidiza” Sibanda and Dazzy Kapenya being referred to as legends.
Legends?
If ever there is a word we abuse in these shores it is that one.
You hear lads such as Alois Bunjira, Harrington Shereni — yes that one with that issue —George Mbwando and Gilbert Mushangazhike often being passed as legends.
Please spare us.
There are even plans to have a football legends association!
Zimbabwe, in my book, has very few football legends and at the top of my head I can say George Shaya, Peter Ndlovu and Sunday Chidzambwa are legends.
Kapenya is a Bosso legend just like Memory Mucherahohwa is a Dynamos legend.
Is Moses “Bambo” Chunga a legend?
A Dynamos legend yes, as for a national football legend — I am not too sure.
But I promise to think about it.
Va Shagare exits the scene.
VaShagare is the founder of DeMbare DotComs and can be contacted on that Facebook page as well as the email [email protected].
