39 YEARS LATER, Kouffie we still feel it!

Fungai Muderere
WHEN Ben Kouffie told Zimbabweans that even a coach from the moon would never see the Warriors qualify for the

World Cup, there was an uproar here and chuckles there.

The late Ghanaian coach said after he was fired as the national team technical advisor of the Zimbabwe Football Association from 1981 to 1982.

He was also a former Ghana Football Association (GFA) chairman. He died in 2016 at the age of 84. He was at one time famously misquoted, according to him, as saying even if Zimbabwe hires a coach from the moon, it would not qualify for Afcon. Many people took it as a curse as Zimbabwe kept failing to qualify for Afcon.

He later explained that he never cursed the Warriors.

And today, Zimbabwe has still not qualified for the global football showpiece, 39 years after he was fired. Local football is in an apoplectic state after the national team was dumped from the Fifa 2022 World Cup after successive losses to Ethiopia and Ghana.

But it is the nature of the Warriors’ capitulation that has raised the ire of local football lovers. A home draw to South Africa, away losses to Ethiopia and Ghana followed by a home loss to the latter, confined locals to yet another dream going up in flames.

But after all is said and done, many now ask if Kouffie damned local football to the pits or local football has damned itself!

The late Kouffie was fired from his post and, as Zimbabwe wasted great opportunities in the subsequent years, his declaration started to be taken seriously in a sporting discipline pregnant with superstition.

The Warriors are out of World Cup reckoning after a one-nil defeat by Ghana in a 2022 World Cup qualifier at the National Sports Stadium.

A 30th minute mistake by goalkeeper Talbert Shumba was the difference between the two sides as Ghanaian stand-in captain Thomas Partey’s harmless looking free-kick sailed through the Zimbabwean goalkeeper’s hands.

For a country that has never really struggled in the goalkeeping department after producing the likes of Bruce Grobbelaar, Japhet Mparutsa, Brenna Msiska, Gift Muzadzi, Tapiwa Kapini and Energy Murambadoro to mention a few, the recent nightmarish performances between the posts are worrying.

In recent years, Elvis Chipezeze, Talbert Shumba, Martin Mapisa, Ariel “Mangoye” Sibanda and Washington Arubi have all been given a chance but failed to stamp their authority as the last line of defence.

Norman Mapeza, Taurai Mangwiro and Mandla “Lulu’ Mpofu were recently tasked to revive the side’s hopes of qualifying for the final round of qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Alas it was the same old story, a script that was “perfectly “crafted by the late Kouffie.

The Warriors have only managed to collect just one point from their first four group matches and since time immemorial this football loving nation has been made to endure the pain of not qualifying for this prestigious global tournament.

The Warriors have a paltry one point from four games and anchor the group which South Africa’s Bafana Bafana lead on 10 points followed by Ghana, placed second, with nine points.

The nation wonders, when will Zimbabwe dump their label as the eternal bridesmaids of world football?

The Warriors have, for a long time now, been regarded as one of the best football teams in Africa, consistently playing at a level good enough to see them ranked among the top 10 sides on the continent.

But, somehow, when it comes to the crunch, they always come short.

Cry Our Beloved Football!

Question: When will great times come to Zimbabwean football?

Answer : Only time will tell

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