They were more than five dreadlocked players in the Sables squad, including Prayer Chitenderu, Costa Dinha and Gardner Nechironga. The team take pride in calling themselves “Marasta”.
Chidongo is very vocal on the field and has an eye for holes in any opponent and his Napoleonic stature makes him one of the best scrum-halfs in the country.
Chidongo is definitely missed in the changing rooms of Old Hararians and the Sables, for whom he debuted in 2002. Though the Sables have been doing well, having been promoted to Group 1A in the Africa Zone and also in the running for winning the second edition of the Victoria Cup, the little scrum-half brings colour to any side with his sense of humour. Youthful Charles Jiji has done well in the absence of the Old Hararians’ little magician, Chidongo, who is still recovering from a serious attack by assailants on his way home from a league match on April 2.
The seven-time championships winner chronicled to Standardsport how he escaped death by a whisker following the attack.
“I had a few drinks after the opening league match against OM (Old Miltonians) at Harare Sports Club with my friends Percy Tsongorera, Prayer Chitenderu and Costa Dinha.
“I, together with Percy, then decided to take a taxi home to Budiriro One and after dropping Percy at his place of residence, I decided to drop at the shopping centre and take a walk home as it is very close,” he said. The former Old Boys captain added that unfortunately, there was no electricity in the suburb and the roads were a bit dark.
“It was around 10pm and I was struck by a sharp object at the back of the head and I passed out and only woke up at around two in the morning. I had blood all over my face and struggled to walk to the nearest police station where I managed to call my wife.”
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“The thieves went away with US$38, my two phones and rugby boots. However, I think they heard that I did not die because they returned part of my rugby kit,” he said.
Tich sustained a nine-stitch wound
Chidongo, who had a nine-stitch wound, later phoned Percy and that was when he started vomiting blood and they called for an ambulance.“I spent close to two weeks at Parirenyatwa Hospital. The Easter holiday came and I still did not know what was happening,” said Chidongo, who was discharged on April 14.
Tich Chidongo had problems with his eyes
However, that was not the end of his problems as he started encountering problems with his eyesight.
“I spent close to eight weeks with one eye closed and unfortunately it was close to the build-up to the Africa Cup qualifiers which also doubled as qualifiers of the Victoria Cup. I am not fully fit and only started coming to work on June 13,” said the scrum-half, who is employed as a salesman at Cochrane Engineering.
Chidongo, who started light training last week, said God willing, he might return to competitive rugby soon.
“I am not in a hurry to make a comeback, but will soon be back. I want to thank all my friends, particularly Dingi, Percy, Jaws (Godwin Murambiwa), Prayer and Costa for helping me. Keep up the Rasta spirit,” he said.
Chidongo started his career at Mufakose Swallows, but later joined his beloved Old Boys in 1998 as an Under 21. He won six titles with OH, three of them as a captain between 2004 and 2006 and later won it with Old Georgians last year.
