Friday night finally brought to a halt a heated debate that had become the order of the day for the past three weeks since the 11 Soccer Star of the Year finalists were made public.
Opinion by Brian Nkiwane
The debate was centred on who was going to be crowned the King of Zimbabwean football this year.
The debate would make machines at different workplaces stop working. It became the topical point in queues and also in commuter omnibuses.
Unfortunately, the debate at times became so ugly with fans exchanging harsh words on social networks, Twitter and Facebook, with some bordering their arguments on tribalism and regional boundaries, but thank God all this is now history. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dynamos midfield dynamo Denver “Mundikumbuke” Mukamba for joining the ever-growing list of Soccer Stars of the Year in Zimbabwean football history, Makorokoto Amhlope!
Above all, sponsors need special mention, thanks to Delta Beverages.
But I have one problem that I think all football stakeholders that include sports writers, sponsors, Premier Soccer League, referees and coaches should bear in mind and make amends next year for the good of the game.
There are monthly awards that the sponsors have come up with. I have noticed that for the past two years, Delta has come back to sponsor our domestic league — but it has not been done in a proper manner. For your own information, these monthly awards have a bearing on the selection of the outstanding player in the league.
Last year all the monthly awards winners were made known on the final day, at the Soccer Stars of the Year event, which I feel is not proper.
Likewise this year, the monthly awards were not run month by month but results were only made known a few days before the big day.
Instead of arguing on who should be the King of football in the league, if these awards are done properly and on time, I think they can give us a guideline on who would have performed extremely well.
A practical example that I can quickly cite is the Goalkeeper of the Year award.
Highlanders’ shot stopper Ariel Sibanda emerged as the man with the safest hands in the local league, coupled by a fine performance in Warriors colours after filling in the chasm that was left by warriors skipper Tapuwa Kapini through injury.
Sibanda has been outstanding the entire season as he won the Goalkeeper of the Month award four times, in May, June, July, and August, and has also been the reason why the Bulawayo giants went for 23 matches without tasting defeat.
Another example, the Mukamba and Masimba Mambare case this season; Mukamba won it once in October while Mambare won it three times in a roll: July, August and September.
This is the reason why Mambare came second from Mukamba as the first runner up, but what made the difference with Denver is that Mukamba beat Mambare on accolades.
Mukamba guided DeMbare to their second straight championship as well as the Mbada Diamonds Cup.
Another lesson that we must learn is that a soccer star does not only come from a championship winning team, but players must be rewarded on individual performance.
The top three is not surprising as they all did exceptionally well for their respective clubs. Mukamba scored and initiated moves for the Glamour Boys. And who can afford to forget Mambare? Each time you made a phone call to get final results for a Highlanders match, it would be Mambare who would have scored on the stroke of regulation time and the same can be said of Monomotapa’s Ronald Chitiyo.
Once again, let me congratulate the 11 finalists for making it on the 2013 soccer stars calendar. Makorokoto, Amhlope, Congratulations.
In the end, football was the biggest winner.
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