Ex-St George’s striker scores a first

IN a first by a local high school player, former St George’s College striker John Zindoga has broken into professional football without having featured for any of the Zimbabwean top-flight or Division One clubs.

The teenage forward has joined ABSA Premiership outfit Maritzburg United.

Zindoga, who completed his A-Level at St George’s in November 2016, has been handed a four-year contract at the Team of Choice, where he is already being touted as the substantive replacement for his countryman Evans Rusike.

Rusike was a hit in the two seasons at Maritzburg United before SuperSport United swooped on the Warriors striker last month. Zindoga convinced Maritzburg United coach Fadlu Davids to take him on board despite his lack of football experience, which underlines the qualities in the 19-year-old striker.

His manager Gibson Mahachi was yesterday purring as he revealed the striker’s move. Mahachi, who manages a number of players and coaches, said he had not been left in doubt about Zindoga’s quality when he took him on board in his stable and last year organised an attachment for him in Sweden. And after a two-month trial stint at Mamelodi Sundowns, Mahachi took his player to Maritzburg United and the Team of Choice did not waste time before engaging him on a substantive basis.

Mahachi said the striker had used his stints in Sweden and South Africa, where he spent time at Nyasha Mushekwi’s former clubs Djurgardens and Sundowns, as “vital learning curves’’.

“Last year in February, he went to Sweden for attachment for around six weeks and then we took him to Sundowns, where he trained with them for two months, but now we have taken him to Maritzburg United and he has got a four-year deal.

“It is very encouraging to know that private schools and colleges in this country can have organised football programmes and it is something that you would not expect from schools that are traditionally known for their rugby and cricket exploits,’’ Mahachi said.

Mahachi said he was also happy to note that Zindoga’s age stands him in good stead to quickly learn and adjust to the rigours of the professional game.

“He has already started training with the first team, the boy is 19 and I am happy that this is the kind of ages that we should be producing for the big stage.

“Most of the payers that have been coming from league recently have been late developers, but this boy is a first of his kind. He has never played Premiership football or even Division One League and was basically coached by Bheki Nyoni,’’ Mahachi said.

Nyoni, who is also director of BN Academy, revealed he started coaching Zindoga when he was still a Grade Four pupil at Hartman House, which is St George’s junior school.

“To me, the young man has a lot of potential, he is hard working and he has a passion for football and I believe that if he is handled well, he will blossom and prosper very well.

“His work ethic has been great and I have known him since he was very young, I started working with him when he was in Grade Four and by the time I made him captain of St George’s first team when he was A-Level, I had already known that he was destined for somewhere.

“I would also want to commend Gibson Mahachi for taking the boy into his stable because in my time in football, I have seen a lot of players’ careers that have gone astray because of poor management and wrong deals,’’ Nyoni said.