There was a moment the Warriors huddled together and sang a birthday song for Richard Tswatswa, the national team goalkeeper.
By John Mokwetsi
Their harmony was not in sync but the spirit of unity was as evident and loud as the echo that vibrated in the empty stadium that stood like a giant barely three days before the crucial Africa Cup Of Nations qualifier against old nemesis, Malawi.
The national team coach Kalisto Pasuwa had looked at it all amid the sweat that dripped from his brow to the greenery of the National Sports Stadium. He was on the verge of a historic moment.
72 hours later he was to become the third coach to qualify for the AFCON tournament to be held in Gabon in 2017.
His mind might have momentarily drifted to the days when he was a Dynamos coach a fact he alluded to in passing in jest after the training session.
It was one of the most trying times for the gaffer who at one point trained his Dynamos players at a Raylton training ground that had knee high grass.
He had complained then at the haphazard nature of the preparations for the CAF African league but resigned to his fate by shrugging his shoulders and motivating his players to go on.
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In 2014 at another bumpy ground called Zimphos NewsDay had visited him only to witness a heartbreaking sight for someone who was a championship winning coach. Pasuwa lay slumped on the passenger’s seat of a Toyota Ipsum with his only other companion being his assistant coach Philemon Mutyakureva and a groundsman who nibbled through a boiled maize cob.
The bumpy Zimphos Stadium looked desolate like a ghost mine town and only 14 soccer balls and a few cones signalled an intention that there were supposed to be players training ahead of the crucial Caf Champions League second leg match in the Democratic Republic of Congo against a formidable AS Vita. Dynamos players had boycotted training and were to lose that match 1-0 despite a spirited performance.
Exactly a year ago amid the biting winter of that day Pasuwa who had confided to his close friends how he had wanted to give in to the chaotic nature of the game and walk away.
A photo of Pasuwa with a heavy duty also known as two-in-one blanket rapped on his shoulders as he boarded a Munorurama bus to embark on an eight our trip to Malawi for the first leg of the AFCON qualifier changed the way the bookmarkers has staked their odds. Zimbabwe instantly paid $5 for every dollar from the initial $2. Nobody gave them a chance, if at all the gaffer became a victim of memes that engulfed every new media platform on the moving screens.
Pasuwa it is said by sources had paced up and down in the dressing room before that match in Malawi and told the players to play for the nation. He is said to have been praying the previous night to summon divine intervention. As people glued on their television to witness a beautiful fluke by Khama that made the result an unbelievable 2-1 the nation collectively sighed. It was too good to believe, a miracle that numbed rather than excited-at least for some minutes.
Yesterday was his day of reckoning. The stadium stood in awe at a performance that was not romantic enough but had climaxed into an AFCON qualification, 10 years since the last time we stood shoulder to shoulder with African giants. Malawi had fallen to a 3-0 scoreline.
Nyasa Times called in another heartbreak. Daily Times was unapologetic and simply headlined the backpage, What a load of rubbish.
As news flittered that Zimbabwe had qualified Pasuwa humbly embraced his players and as modest as always said the victory was theirs to enjoy because they had fought every battle. He said his players had been phenomenal.
He was never one to self-praise and with that modest he walked into the changing room with his assistant Saul Chaminuka in tow. One, two, three steps they walked the first steps to another battle 3200 km away in Gabon.
