Retired Chiefs star on why ex-PSL players are overlooked in Zim

Ex-Kaizer Chiefs forward Kelvin Mushangazhike has revealed the one reason why some of Zimbabwe’s finest imports in the PSL were overlooked when it came to national duty.

According to Mushangizhike, most of the players that deserved a chance of donning the Zimbabwe Warriors jersey were denied the opportunity because they refused to buy their way into the team.

The former Black Leopards striker himself was on the sidelines of the national team despite his massive rise in stock from Dynamos to Kaizer Chiefs in 2002.

“I was a regular player in the under 23s for my country, Zimbabwe but the moment I joined Kaizer Chiefs, they never looked at me,” Mushangazhike told FARPost.

“I graduated to be a senior and I deserved together with some guys who played with me.

MUSHANGAZHIKE EXPLAINS

“We were some of the best players that time and we were constantly in Europe for trials because of our abilities.

“Kaizer Chiefs is one of the biggest teams in Southern Africa. I was a regular feature there. I played well because I had earned the team’s confidence that time.

Mushangazhike spent four years in the South African elite league in the books of Kaizer Chiefs before joining Black Leopards at a later stage.

Although he could not be drawn to mention names, Mushangazhike said players plying their trade in foreign leagues were ignored during Sunday Chidzambwa and Charles Mhlauri’s era as head coaches respectively.

“But to be honest, there was little recognition from the national team. Many players were affected by this but I will use myself as an example.

“It’s because the coaches wanted to paid for someone to be called for national duty. That time, there was Sunday Chidzambwa and later Charles Mhlauri.

“Many players who I will not mention by name were overlooked precisely because they choose to believe in merit over buying the passage into the national team.

“Perhaps that was one of the reasons why we never got the big rewards at national team level despite possessing some of the finest players of our time in our region,” he said.

Sunday Chidzambwa though was the first coach to lead Zimbabwe to the Africa Cup of Nations [Afcon] finals in 2004.

Charles Mhlauri took charge and led the Warriors of Zimbabwe to the Afcon finals in 2006.

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