Just two seasons ago, Zimbabwe national women's football team striker Rutendo Makore, who also plays for Black Rhinos Queens, had ruled herself out of the game.
Makore, also known in football circles as "Madzimai", had to endure a career-threatening knee injury from which she never pictured herself on pitch again.
Apart from the magnitude of the injury, the decorated football star also found it difficult to afford the corrective surgery which the doctors had recommended.
Still, the surgery would guarantee 50-percent percent chances of her return to football.
Coupled with lost confidence, Madzimai felt that her football journey had just come to an end.
"I was heartbroken to imagine that my journey was ending in this way," recalled Makore.
"Whenever I watched my mates Felistas Muzongondi, Danai Bhobho, Emmaculate Msipa and others play, I would break down
However, it is Rudo Neshamba who unknowingly inspired Makore to bounce back.
Ironically, it was as if the duo's tale played off an almost similar script.
Neshamba who marked sensational return to football in 2019, had contemplated quitting football two years prior, with a knee injury as well.
The two had become friends at a time they were some of the dominant players in the local league, having featured in the Mighty Warriors that made it to the Rio Olympics Games in 2016.
It was during the Olympics that Neshamba aggravated her injury.
So bad was the injury that she contemplated hanging her boots.
However, after a successful corrective surgery in 2017, Neshamba found her way back on the pitch in 2018, joining ZWSL side Harare City Queens.
In 2019, she also announced her return to the Mighty Warriors in style by guiding the team to an impressive finish at the COSAFA Women Championships in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
And from a distance, Makore felt motivated to go all out in search of funds for surgery that resuscitated her career.
"I told myself that if she (Neshamba) did it, then I could do it as well," said Makore.
"Not that it was a competition of some sort, but having played with her in our prime, seeing her go down and come back, I realised that nothing could stop me too.
"I am happy that things went well, I am yet to return to my old self because after that knee injury, I needed to lose weight and regain fitness too, so I am working hard to get there."
The 2017 COSAFA Cup Golden Boot winner and ex-Sporting de Huelva forward is currently enjoying a fairy-tale return to Black Rhinos.
To quell any fears and show what the army side has been missing in her absence, Makore has netted three goals in the team's eight outings.
Currently her team sits second on the log standings after registering their first defeat of the season when they fell 1-2 to Chapungu at Manyame Airbase at the weekend.
Defending champions Herentals Queens sit on top of the table with 24 points and are yet to taste defeat.
"I am aiming higher actually and want to surpass my yesteryear performances; I know many will argue based on my age but I am determined to make it happen.
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"I still have memories of the Olympic Games in Brazil in 2016, that was the highlight of my career and I would want to relieve such a moment one more time hence I keep pushing.
"Financially it did not pay off but the experience meant everything considering where we were coming from as Zimbabwe Women Football and this is what keeps pushing me," she said.
"I am yet to reclaim my scoring mojo but I am sure soon I will be there; when I returned, at first it was tough to complete 90 minutes but I am slowly getting back on my feet."
ZWSL Week 8 Results
Conduit Academy 0-4 Harare City; Correctional Queens1-0 Faith Drive; Herentals Queens 2-0 Black Mambas; Platinum Royals 1-0 Maningi; ZRP Harare Queens 0-1 Sheasham; Highlanders Royals 1-3 MSU Queens; Chapungu 2-1Black Rhinos; Hope Academy 0-0 Mutare City
