Once upon a time, he will start his tale. He will tell his grandchildren that on August 15 2010, he scored a fine goal with a looping shot from the right-hand side into the top corner in the 31st minute for the winner against ES Setif.
He will tell them that this wonder strike ensured DeMbare’s first victory in the group phase of the Champions League.And of course, among his grandchildren, there will be some doubting Thomases and so Wonder will probably take out his scrapbook pasted with newspaper cuttings of that match.
The grey-haired Wonder will also take out a DVD from the shelf and watch that wonder goal with his grandchildren. He will tell them he was a bundle of energy training at Raylton with DeMbare on 11/11/11 as people around the globe flocked to get married in the belief that it was a somehow lucky date because of the exceedingly rare (once-in-a-lifetime) alignment of numerals.
He will also tell them that he was part of the Zora Butter phenomenon that landed the league title on November 20 2011, but he will have a hard time convincing them, as he does not have a winner’s medal.
Sithole, together with Augustine Mbara, reserve goalkeeper Maxwell Nyamupangedengu and Dominic Benati were denied their winners’ medals by the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League because it did not have enough medals on the day. Denying Sithole, Nyamupangedengu, Mbara and Benati medals, was one of the worst of blunders by the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League. The players were denied a chance to have a winners’ medal dangle on their necks and have photographs taken of this historic occasion.
I had a chat with Dynamos chairman Kenny Mubaiwa who received his winners’ medal on Super Sunday. Mubaiwa pushed the blame on the premiership. “In total, we were supposed to receive 34 medals for the players and seven for technical team,” he said.
He added that the Premier Soccer League had promised to make available some medals for the players who did not receive them.
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He said he found it strange that referees got winners medals, as the norm is that they receive medals in Cup matches where there are silver medals (for the losing finalists) and gold medals for the winners. Nicely said Mubaiwa, but you denied the players a chance for that historic “Kodak moment”.
PSL boss Kenny Ndebele said they provided 25 medals for the Dynamos players, five for executive and seven for the coaches and if the medals were not enough, then Dynamos should come back to him. “I was made to believe that every player got the medals save for the junior players.
However, this is not a big issue as Dynamos should just come to us and we will provide more medals. We actually made 50 of them,” he told Final Whistle.
It is such blunders that taint our footballers where we see executive members jostling to get winners medals ahead of the players. We pray and hope that this will not be repeated in the Mbada Diamonds Cup final today — maybe there would not be a winners’ medal for Sithole and company because Motor Action also badly needs the silverware and the medals.
Winners’ medals are symbols of players’ historical success
Getting a winners’ medal is the pinnacle of any player’s sporting lives, which is never repeated. It is particularly sad that these players who were part of the championship winning squad did not get their winners’ medals while match officials got these medals. For what? We may ask.
Winners’ medals, the world over, are for the players who fight the battle in the field of play. A winner’s medal is a representation of one’s sweat and blood in the title-winning season. It is a memento, which holds a special place when a player retires.
By Fanuel Viriri
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