A TEAM as popular and as big as Dynamos should be living in the lap of luxury but that has not been the case with the DeMbare that everyone knows.
insidesport with MICHAEL KARIATI
The 1998 CAF Champions League finalists have sunk so low their players have become regulars at a local restaurant and bar in the high-density suburb of Warren Park where they have lunch these days.
There is nothing really wrong with Dynamos having their lunch at a place in a high-density suburb when after all, that is where the majority of their followers are.
However, seeing their players —some of them very young — mixing with beer drinkers, especially on a busy drinking day like Sunday as happened last weekend, is something else.
What is even more interesting is the fact that the gazebo at the restaurant and bar in question was on Monday, July 17, razed down by City of Harare authorities as it was considered to be a threat to the security of patrons in case of fire.
Food at this joint goes for $1,50 per plate, but Dynamos are there on charity. They have been offered the lunch for free by the owners of the restaurant, who, ironically, are known Caps United supporters.
The charity deal to have DeMbare have their lunch at the Steak House Restaurant is understood to have been brockered by former DeMbare striker Lloyd Hlahla — a school teacher at Tynwald Primary School who resides in the Warren Park suburb.
That is the state of affairs at Dynamos despite the tens of thousands of dollars they rake in every week. At 54, the club still has nothing to show for its long existence. Even the team bus they use was donated by Nyaradzo Group of Companies.
The bus they used in the past which was inscribed “Here Comes Dynamos and There Goes Dynamos” was cannibalised and body parts used to make drums after the popular Harare club — which claims to have seven million supporters — failed to service it.
DeMbare is the biggest football team in the country and should be seen to lead by example. By bringing their players closer to the green and brown bottle, they are tempting them too much.
Take advantage of opportunities
New horizons have opened up for a host of Zimbabwean footballers who have moved to South Africa where they are guaranteed regular salaries and bonuses, unlike in Zimbabwe where they struggle to get even the little on offer.
Although it is debatable which competition is better, the Absa Premiership or the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League, what is evident is that the Zimbabwean game does not come anywhere close to the South African game in terms of the final rewards on offer for the players.
What, however, the Zimbabwean players should not do is get excited by the financial rewards in South Africa and forget that their final football destination is not South Africa but Europe.
What the players see as a lot of money in South Africa could be nothing compared to what is on offer in European football, as Benjani Mwaruwari can testify after having left South Africa to play in Switzerland, France, and England.
South African football has a lot of international following and the Zimbabwean players should take advantage of the opportunity presented by being in South Africa and play well in order to get offers to play abroad.
It does not matter where the offer would come from. What is important is to go to Europe where upon playing well, they will then move to bigger clubs or get recognised by football leagues. Knowledge Musona and Mwaruwari did it and the new crop of footballers can also do it. Whatever happens in South Africa, the ultimate goal for Zimbabwean footballers should be going to Europe. South African football should only be a stepping stone for better things ahead, preferably a move to England.
it would be cruel if some of the players had to return home and start all over again, as happened to Roderick Mutuma and Denver Mukamba.
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