SOME have labelled him a crybaby following his dramatic outburst that he was “robbed” of the Castle Lager Soccer Star of the Year gong, but such is Ocean Mushure’s undying passion and a relentless drive to always be the best.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
After finishing second runner-up in the Castle Lager Soccer Star on the Year race and emerging as Dynamos Player of the Year as well as scoring a career best of nine goals, one would think that the 2017 season had been a memorable one for the outspoken Dynamos skipper.
Surprisingly, by his admission it has been one of the most frustrating for arguably the best dead ball specialist in the domestic Premiership at the moment.
It was year of near-misses for Mushure whose Dynamos side lost the league title to FC Platinum on the last day of the season. He also finished third behind Soccer Star of the Year Rodwell Chinyengetere and first runner up Kelvin Moyo while a dream move to the South African Absa Premiership, which looked almost certain following a brilliant showing at the Cosafa Cup, failed to materialise.
In short, Mushure failed to achieve most of the things that he set out to accomplish at the beginning of the season.
His only consolation came from his club after he was voted Dynamos’ best player for last season.
“I just want to thank God for helping me to perform the way I did as well as my teammates and the club. But to be honest, what I ended up with is not what I was expecting this season.
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I wanted more but I couldn’t achieve it so I just have to be grateful for what I was able to achieve,” the 32-year-old fullback opened up to The Sports Hub.
Regardless how weak the Dynamos team appeared at the beginning of the season after a mass exodus of senior players, Mushure had the audacity to target the league.
Mushure had also set himself a goal to win the Soccer Star of the Year honour which he has coveted for long, while he hoped to earn a big money move outside the country.
“It was painful to lose the league title on the last game of the season. With the kind of team we had this year with a lot of new players, most of them who lacked experience we did extremely well but coming that close and failing in the end was very frustrating.
I think we had a slow start to the season and gelled later on, otherwise with a good start we should have won it,” Mushure said.
The defender’s woes did not end there.
“I also think I played my best football this season, scoring a lot of goals including another one straight from a corner kick. I thought I had done enough to achieve one of my longtime dreams that of winning the Soccer Star of the Year award here in Zimbabwe,” the Warriors defender added.
The player affectionately known as “Gungwa” among a legion of Glamour Boys fans scored a total of nine goals, a tally second to Cameroonian import Christian Epoupa who found the back of the net 13 times, making him the top scorer at Dynamos. Five of Mushure’s goals were from set pieces.
Proving to be a late bloomer, Gungwa was part of the Zimbabwe team that won a record-breaking fifth Cosafa Cup title in South Africa last July.
Mushure scored four goals in four matches during the competition thus attracting interest from a number of Absa Premiership side with a move to Maritzburg seemingly likely to go through.
But alas it was not to be as he had to watch in agony as his best chance yet to take his talents to South Africa literally slipped through his fingers.
“As a player one of the things you aspire to do is to play outside the country. A South African club was interested in me but couldn’t sign me because they had expended their quota for foreign players. When things like that happen they tend to affect your game as a player but I managed to get over it and play my football.
“There are also a number of clubs that have made inquiries about me and barring any unforeseen circumstances a move to the Absa premiership could materialise in January,” he said.
Gungwa has established himself as one of the best set piece specialists ever to emerge from the local scene.
Interestingly it’s a gift that came naturally to him from as grade 5 pupil in Harare’s high-density suburb of Kuwadzana where he grew up.
“I discovered the talent when I was in Grade 5 playing football at school in Kuwadzana. It was a gift that was in me. I remember people from nearby secondary schools back then would come to watch me because of my reputation for scoring free kicks,” revealed Mushure.
If he remains in the local league the former Lengthens, Monomotapa and Motor Action defender’s goal for next season is pretty obvious.
“I want to fight to become Soccer Star of the Year and to win the league one more time,” declared, Mushure, who last week travelled to his rural home in Gokwe to enjoy some well-deserved family time during the festive holidays.
