Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Robson Sharuko
26 February 2008
Harare — There were three bitter lessons for domestic football at Gwanzura on Sunday - how not to play a cup final, where not to play a cup final and how not to handle a cup final.
There were three big failures on that forgettable sun-drenched afternoon in Highfield - Dynamos and Highlanders, blundering referee Christopher Manuel and the Harare City Council.
There were three big losers on the day -- the colourful crowd that came to watch a cup final but ended up watching a non-event, a sponsor who poured billions into what turned out to be a big yawn and the very image of our national game being battered.
The only surprise was that somehow amid all these ruins and all this chaos disguised as a football final and played on a surface that resembled a winter wheat field, a winner emerged to take the trophy home.
History will record that Dynamos won the 2008 Nestle Champion of Champions Charity Shield, will show that DeMbare beat Bosso 2-1 on aggregate and that the Harare giants kept intact an impressive unbeaten run going back to June last year.
Murape Murape will carry fond memories of the day he lifted his first trophy as Dynamos captain, Benjamin Marere will fondly remember his fine show on his home debut as a DeMbare player and David Mandigora will probably cherish another trophy to his team's cabinet.
Jacob Muzokomba did everything he probably could have done -- turning on a towering show that should have been rewarded with a goal -- Methembe Ndlovu will wonder how his side were not given that late penalty and just how newboy Cuthbert Malajila missed an open goal.
But what stood out on Sunday was not the football because -- in terms of quality -- this was one of the worst games between the two biggest football clubs in the country.
What stood out on Sunday was not the drama on the pitch -- something that had come to be expected whenever the two giants of Zimbabwean football clash.
What stood out on Sunday was a detectable decay of the standards that these two institutions -- more than any other team in this country -- had set during the good old days when our football fields were graced by real footballers and not these fatballers.
At times it was so embarrassingly terrible it became difficult to adjust to the reality that there had been a change in teams and the real finalists had replaced the boozers who opened the show as the curtain-raisers.
At times it was all horrible -- or maybe terrible -- noone would have missed anything if the thunder and lightning that roared in the horizon at half-time had transformed into a storm leading to the abandonment of this game at that stage of the contest.
At times it was so bad -- very, very bad -- it would probably have been a wise idea, at some point during the match, to refund the fans half their entrance fees.
Not that this terrible affair was worth half the $20 million that people paid for the cheapest ticket to go into Gwanzura and watch this match.
But given that Doctor Zobha was around to serve his usual dish maybe, to some extent, the cheapest ticket to his personal show could have been worth around $10 million.
Admittedly, this is only the Charity Shield and it's still too early in the season to give a fair judgment of the quality of the game in store for us this year nor the quality of the teams.
Both Dynamos and Highlanders are still trying out some combinations after having brought in a number of new players and everyone, it appears, is still suffering from the end-of-season hangover.
With time the players will get fitter, with time they will gel as a team and, with time, they are certainly going to play better and provide better entertainment for the fans.
But there are certain things in football -- at this level of the game -- that should not be masked by such emotional rhetoric like off-season hangover, specially for two teams that knew pretty well that they would be playing in the Champions League and the Confederations Cup.
Simple things like ball control turning into complex acts. Simple things like passing to a teammate turning into something so complicated the fans apparently applauded when the first three-man passing movement came off successfully midway in the first half.
Simple things like lifting the ball from a corner kick turning into such a complicated business two Dynamos players -- one right-footed and another left-footed --failed to lift the ball from two corner-kicks, given on the same spot in as many minutes in the first half, into the Bosso box.
Simple things like supporting the man on the ball -- the very basics we learnt at school -- being turned into such a complex issue both Bosso and DeMbare became loose coalitions of 11 players bonded only by the colour of their kit rather than football teams of 11 players each bonded by team spirit.
Simple things like running into space, simple things like crossing the ball -- whether high or low -- simple things like positional discipline and all the things that make football such a simple sport were made so complicated it was like watching an alien sport.
Where was the vision?
Do our top players now need half a season to know how to spot a teammate running into space, hit the ball long enough to find that man, support him from all directions, confuse the opponent and create the opening?
At least Marere gave us hope. And so did Muzokomba.
Murape woke up from a first-half slumber to become a Monya who could be hired and trusted while Justice Majabvi played very well in that midfield hole.
But where was everybody else?
How did Malajila -- the Golden Boot winner last year -- miss that second half chance?
How did Edward Sadomba escape a second bookable offence -- which would have sent him for an early shower -- when he deliberately handled the ball shortly after getting another yellow for violent conduct?
How did moody Bosso goalkeeper Washington Arubi -- certainly a disgrace to his profession in the manner he acted on Sunday -- escape a straight red card for assaulting Sadomba in that second half?
How could he again escape another yellow card -- which would have turned into red -- when he threatened the referee shortly after the end of the game?
For a player who plays for the national team, Arubi's conduct on Sunday was a shame.
But then how do we have a referee like Manuel being assigned to handle such a big game?
To say that he was blundering all afternoon would be an understatement and Mandigora was right to say -- in the post-match interview -- that DeMbare also had occasions when they felt aggrieved by some of Manuel's crazy decisions.
But the big decisions went against Bosso and that's probably the reason why Manuel received a warm applause from some DeMbare fans as he went to the changing rooms after the game.
And some of those decisions were clearly diabolical. Twice he appeared ready to blow his whistle - in key positions when Highlanders players went down under heavy challenges - but appeared to change his mind when he realised both fouls were inside the box.
But the big one came right at the end. For some strange reason goalkeeper Willard Manyatera decided it was time to relive his Mucheke Madness -- the day his schoolboy blunder gifted Masvingo United the winner in a league match last year.
His decision to choose to be stylish and chest the ball down - in the heat of that moment - was poor and when he lost control, the ball rolled to Malajila. His touch, probably surprised by Manyatera's goodwill, was poor too but he had the momentum and as the ball went past the goalkeeper, chances were that Malajila would get it before it went out of play and turn it into an empty net.
In his desperation Manyatera, having missed the ball, touched the man and when both goalkeeper and striker went down, the decision should have been straightforward - a Bosso penalty. Maybe a yellow card to Manyatera or - in the worst case scenario - a red card to the goalkeeper for a professional foul given that Muzokomba was the last man in attack. Somehow Manuel thought otherwise and waved play on.
A wave of Bosso players running to the referee in protest was the clearest evidence that this was one big decision that Manuel had got terribly wrong. But Manuel, for all his mistakes, Bosso and DeMbare for all their shortcomings and Arubi - for all his emotional recklessness - cannot be compared to the blundering Harare City Council. How a council - left only with Gwanzura as their major stadium - could turn the ground into a wheat field in a season in which we had good rains defies logic. That the same council was ready to take home $67 billion as a share of the gate-takings probably shows its insensitivity to its social commitments.
On Sunday the players did their part to give the fans value for their money. The referee did his part to spoil this afternoon. The Harare City Council did their part, too, in this mess. Somewhere, somehow, something is wrong in our football! We can live in denial and say everything is okay. But just check the attendance - 12 204 supporters for a Bosso/DeMbare cup final that used to attract 45 000 people.
It's easy to hide behind the hard times but it's also a fact that the quality on offer -- and Sunday is a perfect example -- is not good enough for someone to sacrifice his dollar.
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