Robson Sharuko
2 July 2011
THIS time there was no free ride in a police truck out of Gwanzura, to keep him away from the marauding mob, as the end finally came during his first spell at CAPS United.
Neither did we see anything similar to those dramatic scenes when that huge woman kicked the bonnet of his car, in a fit of rage, and turned hysterical, in an attack that was pregnant with both verbal and physical intensity, outside Gwanzura.
But, even in the tranquility of the CAPS United offices in the Hillside neighbourhood of Harare, in the friendly company of the CAPS United president Twine Phiri, vice-president Farai Jere and chief executive Maxwell Mironga, Moses Chunga knew his time to go had come.
That was Monday morning and CAPS United were still reeling from their first-round exit, in the BancABC Sup8r Cup, after a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Highlanders at Baghdad the previous day. For some time,
Chunga had resisted a lot just to stay in his job as CAPS United coach. He had resisted the insults, from a militant section of the CAPS United fans, who found a convenient excuse, every time the team fell, to blame for the defeat, with suggestions that he couldn’t be trusted to deliver, given his strong links with bitter rivals Dynamos.
He had resisted the volleys of abuse, including allegations that he was an undercover Dynamos agent, planted into the CAPS United system to weaken it from within and, at the same time, boost the cause and interests of the Glamour Boys where he built his name.
He had resisted the innuendoes, including suggestions that used to wear a DeMbare shirt under the officials CAPS United T’shirt and jacket, when he was barking instructions from the bench and, away from the prying eyes of the public, he would reveal his true colours and celebrate a Dynamos triumph.
He had resisted the charges, including ridiculous ones like that he had placed a bet for Dynamos to win, in the Harare Derby, while at the same time he was coaching CAPS United, in that big game, and that explains why he saluted the DeMbare fans after the game.
But, not even the full support of a director who believed that his pedigree, and the promise of a run of good results that it brought, would help to break the barriers created by the identity of the team where he made his name, and the hostility its name induced on the green side, could produce a beautiful ending to this story.
Not even the drive, to try and win a second league championship, and provide CAPS United with a hero to cheer their spirits – six years after Charles Mhlauri delivered their second straight league championship and left the Green Machine in Dreamland, could produce the fairy-tale ending that Chunga, with the full support of Jere, wanted.
Not even the passion to try and win a second league championship, and answer the critics who claimed that his triumph at Gunners was a freak one that was aided, in a long way, by the Collapse-At-The-Line syndrome that Dynamos were suffering from since losing the race to Monomotapa in 2008, than the genuine quality of the side that Chunga produced, could bring the dream ending that the coach wanted.
Fate, cruelly, was also against him.
His side dominated the first half of their league match against Highlanders at Barbourfields and, for the better part of that tie, looked the better bet for victory but a harsh decision by the referee for a foul, down the right channel in time added on, resulted in a free-kick and Gilbert Banda headed home the priceless winner.
In the high-stakes Harare Derby, both CAPS United and Dynamos decided not to play the game and, even when fate cruelly ruled against Martin Vengesayi and earned him a double booking he didn’t deserve, given that the first yellow card was a shame, to give the Green Machine a slight advantage, the ghost of the last-minute goal was not far away. And, as Douglas Walaza, Arnold Chivheya and goalkeeper Edmore
Sibanda bathed in a sea of confusion, in the decisive moment of the game, substitute Tawanda Muparati was at the right place, at the right time, and his touch guided the ball home.
So Bosso came again, now in neutral territory, in a stadium where the Bulawayo giants had not won in nine years, and a win for CAPS United, in the kind of a game where they had built their reputation as Cup Kings, would have helped to cool down the rising temperatures and the rampaging emotions.
Sadly Gilbert Banda, as he had done in Bulawayo, was waiting in ambush and his tame connection, from a dead ball, made all the difference as it exposed Edmore Sibanda and complicated matters for a CAPS
United house that needed a victory to heal the cracks in its camp and the wounds inflicted on its soul.
Bambo had to walk away.
AllAfrica – All the Time
See more here:
Zimbabwe: Dancing With Wolves