Tale of a prince, a rascal
TWO sides of the same coin is how one can casually describe midfielder Denver Mukamba and striker Roderick Mutuma owing to the several similarities they share.
BY AND large, both are maverick; which eccentricity oft-times presents them as residents on the fringes of utter lunacy as they sometimes battle roguish and impish demons!
Having been darlings at Dynamos at one point in time of their budding careers, both have crossed the great divide and played for crosstown rivals CAPS United. The pair was once bright prospects, but that huge potential was only overshadowed and dimmed by seemingly relentless personal problems. When one was grabbing the golden boot as the top goalscorer in 2011, the other was clinching the golden ball for being the soccer star of the year only a year later in 2012.
While they have both raked up some caps with the Warriors, Mukamba and Mutuma have also suffered largely fruitless stints in South Africa.
Ultimately, the duo has been chucked out of the blue DeMbare family owing to their apparently incorrigible and disruptive behaviour that during the peak of their powers they did not really hit the heights many expected of them as the boys lost their glamour along the way.
Now, while Mutuma is earning his keep at lowly Nichrut in Midlands province where his family is based, Mukamba is still hovering in the capital trying to get a deal to take him back to the Glamour Boys tied. While Roderick now appears on the mend, Denver looks stuck on that bend in his ever-meandering career. As Mutuma tries to get his career jogging again, Mukamba remains hamstrung as his impending return to the Harare giants looks acrimonious following an unceremonious exit at MaKepeKepe where he did not even see out his year-long loan.
As Mutuma was turning into a football “frog” – one that no team appeared ready to embrace, never mind kissing, as he changed and moved clubs like wet diapers on a soiled baby and played for four different clubs over the past year – Nichrut have pampered him with that kiss that looks set to turn him into a prince again. For their trouble, the Midlands side have so far been repaid with two goals by the self-styled prince of local football.
But whether Mutuma will be around at Nichrut for longer we remain to see and it becomes a story for another day. Of our immediate interest, however, is if and when Mukamba will return to Dynamos. While Mutuma is wandering no more (at least for now), Mukamba is wondering what may become of his career, which appears to be the crossroads right now. Does the boy they call Mundikumbuke realise the huge stakes involved if his proposed move back to DeMbare collapses or he does not conform nor toe the line?
Will Mutuma make the most and best use of his fresh status as a prince again or Mukamba’s notoriously fiendish behavior will get the better of him again and render him a rascal?
If it is about football that you care let’s share the cheer because we are made for the game, mad about the game!
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