BY ALBERT MARUFU FORMER Zimbabwe (Dream Team), Arcadia, Dynamos and CAPS United defender Carlos Max, is recovering from a serious car accident he was involved in recently.Max (50), who was driving to Johannesburg, South Africa with his cousin Kevin in a Mercedes Vito, sustained two fractures on his right leg, one fracture on his right hand and several internal body injuries. “I was travelling to South Africa on June 6 when I was involved in a head-on collision with a car that was driving towards Zimbabwe. I broke my leg on two places, lost one tooth and also had internal injuries. I was admitted to a South African hospital for two weeks, but was readmitted again because of lung problems,” said Max, who was in obvious pain. “The car is now a right off as they had to cut through the wreckage to get me out. My cousin Kevin with whom I was travelling was lucky as he escaped without a scratch.” Max said the biggest challenge he faced now was in settling the medical bills. “Right now I have to pay close to US$40 000 for my bills with maybe an extra US$10 000 needed because I have to visit a physiotherapist in future. I am glad with what the Arcadia community is doing as they want to hold a fundraising dinner for my medical expenses,” he said. Max, who got his first call to the national team, under Ghanaian coach Ben Koffie in 1989 and was also part of Reinhard Fabisch’s “Dream Team”, rose through the Arcadia United junior ranks and finally broke into the first team in 1983. Together with the likes of Charlie Jones and Mike Abrahams, they led Arcadia to a runners-up position to Black Rhinos in 1984 with Max scoring 17 goals. He also won the Chibuku Trophy with Arcadia United in 1985, but sadly in-house problems forced him to leave the club in 1988 to join CAPS United. His move to CAPS United saw him winning a number of medals, that includes the BAT Rosebowl Challenge, Rothmans Cup, Independence Trophy and the Natbrew Cup, but the league title remained elusive. A serious injury on Max’s knee in 1994 saw him being off-loaded by CAPS United only to resurface at rivals Dynamos where he won the league championship the following season. In 1996 he retraced his roots to Arcadia United, where they reached the BP Cup final before hanging his boots in 1998.
