Mixed fortunes for Zim sport in 2023

Edmore Zvinonzwa

The 2023 sporting year was a mixed bag for Zimbabwe with different disciplines from cricket, soccer, netball, rugby and squash, all bringing diverse tales.

Premier Soccer League

With the 2023/24 soccer season now gone, attention shifts to the transfer window domestically as teams try to strengthen their squads in preparation for next season.

However, for league champions Ngezi Platinum Stars and Harare giants and Chibuku Super Cup winners, Dynamos have very little time to relax as tough continental assignments beckon.

Both sides have relatively strong sides that are able to hold their own against some of Africa’s best teams. Every soccer enthusiast hopes they will go past the preliminary stages and at reach the mini-league stage when they are likely going to meet the continent’s heavyweights.

For Dynamos fans, this might mark the return of some of Africa’s giants such as Sudanese Al-Hilal, Tanzania’s Young Africans, Simba SC and Azam, AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia of Kenya and the flashy TP Mazembe, Vita Club, Saint Eloi Lupopo and Motema Pembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Several other clubs, especially from North and West Africa that have visited Zimbabwe before, might visit yet again, depending on how well the country’s representatives play in their respective competitions.

Some of the giants from West Africa include Ivory Coast’s Asec Mimosa, US Goree of Senegal and the Ghanian trio of Hearts of Oak, Goldfields and Asante Kotoko.

North Africa will likely bring Egyptian giants Al Ahly, Ismailia and Zamalek, Moroccan outfits SC Sfaxien and Wydad Casablanca, Algeria’s JS Kabylie and USM Alger while Tunisia’s Esperance, Etoile du Sahel and Club Africaine could also visit Harare.

This has happened before. Army side Black Rhinos, in 1988 were quarter finalists in the CAF Champions League and again in 2003 in the CAF Cup.

Zimbabwe’s most successful side in continental competitions, Dynamos, who were runners-up in 1998 and semi-finalists in 2008 are expected to bring back the lost glory and afford their fans smile yet again as the watch their club I action against other giants from around the continent.

PSL bids farewell to quartet

The end of the 2023 season saw the PSL bidding farewell to lowveld side Triangle Football Club, Gweru-based Sheasham, army sides black Rhinos and Cranebone Bullets. The league is welcoming into the topflight other sides from Division One, Northern Region representatives Chegutu Pirates, Arenel Movers from the Southern Region, Eastern Region Division One champions Tenax CS and Central Region Division One winners TelOne, who are both returning to the top-flight.

National soccer team

Zimbabwe’s suspension from international football was lifted towards the end of the year after falling foul of Fifa regulations on government interference in football matters.

The state of stadiums resulted in the national team playing its home matches away from home. The Warriors played their matches against Rwanda and Nigeria in Rwanda, owing to the unavailability of local stadiums.

Mighty Warriors

The national women’s football team, the Mighty Warriors’ quest for a glitzy return to international games was shattered when they were booted out of the Cosafa Women’s Championship by holders, Zambia.

Shepolopolo emerged 1-0 winners.

State of Stadiums

The country’s soccer stadiums are yet to meet Fifa and CAF standards, with Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry promising that Zimbabwe will play home matches at the national Sports Stadium from March next year after the envisaged upliftment works at the venue. The City of Harare has also been working revamping Rufaro Stadium, the ceremonial home of Zimbabwean football.

Perhaps part of the good news is that Walter Magaya’s Heart Stadium, which was officially commissioned by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, might be cleared for use in international matches.

Cricket

The individual brilliance of Chevrons captain Sikandar Raza and Garry Balance among others, could not propel Zimbabwe to World Cup success, falling in both ODI and T20 forms of the game. Again it became a story of “So near, and yet so far” for one of the country’s rising sporting disciplines.

Squash

The junior ladies squash team had an unsuccessful run in the World Cup in Chile.

For now, it is back to the drawing board for the other team sports besides the senior national soccer team, the Warriors who will resume their campaign in 2024. The Mighty Warriors, the Gems, the Sables and the Chevrons have all left the stage for now, to fight another day.