How we ‘killed’ John Sibanda

THERE are days when football is far from beautiful, days when Pele’s description of it as the world’s most beautiful game stops sounding hallow and takes a hollow tone.

These are the days when things go AS A nation we were hard on the late John Sibanda. We were relentless in our criticism and very unforgiving after that howler against Congo Brazzaville.

We called him names, even accused him of daylight witchcraft and went as far as attaching the sell-out label to his name.

With hindsight we must admit that what Sibanda needed after that grave mistake was a lifting hand and not wrong spectacularly, the days when betting houses make a killing and the days when yesterday’s heroes instantly turn into today’s villains.

For the Zimbabwean national soccer team; Sunday July 14, 1991 was one of those days!

A ticket to the 1992 Africa Cup of harsh criticism.

A sports psychologist would have done the trick but sadly back then our understanding of sport was not what it is now. After his howler against Congo Brazzaville the giant goalie never recovered his confidence.

Yes on the outside he seemed to be getting on with it but deep inside he suffered an emotional scar, a scar that pained for the rest of his life.

Sibanda was never called up to the national team again and his place as Zimbabwe Saints number one was usurped by the up and coming Nations that had long looked in hand slipped through goalkeeper John Sibanda’s hands, breaking the hearts of the 55 000 fans that packed their way into the National Sports Stadium and the millions who followed the action on radio, on TV or on both.

These are the days when it was Muzondiwa Mugadza.

Collin Nyabadza, a friend who knew Sibanda well, reckons the goalkeeper in his pal died on the day he made the Congo blunder.

“That mistake haunted him for the rest of his life, he felt like he had let the whole country down. I don’t think he ever forgave himself for that one,” said Nyabadza. Lovejoy Mugadza, one of Sibanda’s teammates at Zimbabwe Saints, added: “After the Congo game something died inside him. He was often a bag of nerves in goals.

“He was quite happy to sit on the fashionable to absorb the images on TV while following Charles Mabika’s commentary on the then ZBC Radio 1.

On that day Moses Chunga was Zimbabwe’s most dangerous player, Peter Ndlovu scored, and Henry McKop scored too but limped off with an injury a few minutes before half time as Max bench deputising Lazy Muzo. In one match, Gibson Homela selected him versus Highlanders. Lo and behold, he allowed a simple shot from Mecedes “Rambo” Sibanda to slip through his grasp...the Congo blunder killed his confidence.

“It’s sad that back then no one cared about John Sibanda the man. Yes he made a mistake, a very costly one but that is part of the game. The nation needed to forgive him and let him live again but everywhere he went people said there goes the goalkeeper who