Becoming a football nation!
THE proud football nation of Brazil have announced their representatives for Qatar 2022 World Cup.
It is a star-studded line-up, a mixture of veterans and exuberant youth. Many are tipping the team to win the prestigious football World Cup this year.
The line-up provides some interesting insights for keen observers of the game in Zimbabwe. We can learn a lot!
I urge you dear reader to look at the Brazil squad and try to pick at least five players. Can you make an effort to read about their football development path from the youth teams both at club and national level right to the top. Football in Brazil is well structured.
I have checked Fred, Allison, Neymar, Fabinho, Gabriel Jesus and Martinelli. I can confirm they were groomed in this great football nation before making their mark abroad.
Our focus in Zimbabwe recently has been to focus on the diaspora-based players and we have sought to persuade them to become the next generation of our Warriors. There is nothing wrong with scouring the whole world for talented players with links to Zimbabwe but I think the home constituency must always be a priority.
After all, this is where the majority of players are based. From Zambezi to Limpopo, raw talent lies untapped. What is just needed are the structures and a commitment to the cause.
The other benefit is that our clubs can even benefit through direct transfers of players to European clubs.
In Brazil, clubs such as Santos, Flamengo, Vasco Da Gama and Corinthians are aware of this and they groom players who play for them before they move abroad.
Why can we not do it? I do not think it’s wholly about the economy (though the economy argument does have its own merits), I think it’s more about a football vision.
When Moses ‘’ Bambo’’ Chunga moved to Belgium, did his club Dynamos not benefit directly from the transfer fee? From the grapevine, I understand the money was used to buy a plot in Waterfalls where a club house and stadium were meant to be build.
Can you imagine what would have happened if this vision had continued? We would be talking about a different Dynamos to the one we currently know!
What about Highlanders? Did they not benefit directly from the sale of Peter Ndlovu to Coventry?
Our clubs must take the identification of talent and the junior policy seriously. They must treat football as a business. Brazilian teams have been doing this for ages and this has sustained them over the years.
In Brazil the young boys also know, they can escape poverty ( many of them are from the ghettos) by playing football.
So the boys in Zengeza (as highlighted by legend Alois Bunjira when he bemoaned the death of street football in Chitungwiza) who think the economy stops them from playing football only need to look at the journeys of these Brazilian players.
And our club owners who refuse to have junior teams, they should check the journeys of these Brazilian stars.
I think it is about a football vision for a Nation to become a Football Nation.
At the moment we lack this. As we watch Qatar 2022, let us learn how other nations have grown their game.
As they say, it is not just a game anymore, it’s a business!
Be blessed.