ALUVAH BACK FROM CAPE TO CAIRO SAFARI
ZIMBABWEAN football super fan Alvin “Aluvah” Zhakata, who completed a 44-day 10 000km Cape to Cairo road trip to watch the AFCON finals in Egypt, arrived back home yesterday afternoon.
He was accorded a hero’s welcome by a bunch of supporters who were singing in jubilation upon his arrival at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
Soon after Zhakata’s arrival, the Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association’s liaison officer, Chris Romario Musekiwa, said: “As Warriors’ cheerleaders we have come in numbers to give one of ours a deserving hero’s welcome. He did us proud as a country by completing the Cape to Cairo road expedition and it was no easy achievement, his achievement made the news the world over and it shows the impact he made.
“He is a sporting ambassador par excellence and he put the country on the world map as he travelled in the national flag attire. It is an inspiration even to the sporting fraternity that if you are focused and determined you will achieve your set goals.”
Zhakata, who charmed the global football world and transformed himself into a celebrity and received a special invitation from CAF president Ahmad Ahmad to watch the AFCON final between Senegal and Algeria in Cairo, said a combination of passion and adventure drove him to take on the challenge head-on.
“I’m a passionate soccer fan and it was a combination of passion and adventure as they make up who I am. The 2019 AFCON tournament was a proper platform for me to express my passion for the sport through travelling across the continent of Africa.
“I travelled from the 21st of May through eight countries and it was never easy, it was rather very difficult. I started my journey from Zimbabwe then to South Africa in Cape town, then from Cape Town to Harare, then from Harare to Lusaka in Zambia then from there to Tanzania and from Tanzania to Kenya and from Kenya to Ethiopia.
“I encountered some problems there while travelling from Kenya to Ethiopia then from Ethiopia to Sudan then from Sudan eventually to Egypt,” said Zhakata soon after touching down at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport yesterday.
He said that it was not the first time he had followed the Warriors across the continent as he had previously followed them to 26 African countries.
“This was not my first trip to follow the Warriors across the continent as I’ve travelled with them countless times. I’ve travelled with them to Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Cameroon. I’ve been to 26 African countries supporting the Warriors but the most significant trip was in 2016 when I followed them all the way to Rwanda where they were participating in a CHAN tournament,” Zhakata said.
He revealed that he was extremely honoured to meet CAF president Ahmad Ahmad.
Zhakata also said he was overwhelmed by the exposure he got as a result of his Cape to Cairo journey as he was not expecting it nor was it the reason he went on the journey.
However, he was disappointed that he failed to watch any live Zimbabwe matches as the only match he watched was on television.
“It was really overwhelming as I was never expecting such exposure, sometimes I couldn’t walk because there were journalists all over, journalists from BBC, CNN and journalists from all over Africa as they wanted to interview me and hear my story. I was so overwhelmed and for the CAF president to meet with me and give me a ticket to watch the AFCON final was really an honour.
“It’s so disappointing that I had to watch only one game of the Warriors on television and it’s also disappointing that I missed all the Warriors matches in Egypt but it would have been more disappointing had I aborted my journey on the way to fly to Kenya then to Egypt then three games later the Warriors were knocked out,” he said.