Trailing footsteps of giants: Why Daniel Msendami is the ‘next Khama Billiat’
More than a few times in his short career, Daniel Msendami has found himself compared to Kaizer Chiefs star Khama Billiat.
Perhaps, this is largely due to the way he plays. Zimbabwe has a rich history of young forwards who, when they burst onto the scene, send shivers down the spine of many a defender because of their wizardry on the ball.
In the late 80s, Peter Ndlovu’s nifty feet cut through defences as he began crafting a reputation as his country’s most impactful player when he was barely in his teens.
As the Bulawayo Bullet entered the twilight of his career, a young boy was readying himself on the dusty fields of Mufakose to take over his crown and establish himself as the country’s pre-eminent dribbling wizard.
In his prime, Khama Billiat was a hot knife that cut through the most vaunted defences on the continent almost at will.
Now at 33, Billiat is no spring chicken. Father Time always claims his pound of flesh eventually, and as injuries start to blight the later stages of his career, some might say that the sight of Billiat on the ball no longer gets the defender’s pulses racing as fast as it used to.
Dressing rooms no longer spend the week leading to a matchup against Khama in trepidation, fearing a 90-minutes of torment that awaited them on any given Sunday when Billiat was in his pomp.
However, those who have watched Msendami’s rise closely have warned that it might be a tad bit too early for defenders to heave a sigh of relief.
A storm has been brewing north of the Limpopo, and when it eventually rains, defenders might reap a harvest of tears, they say.
HAILS FROM A FAMILY OF HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Like Khama, Msendami comes from humble beginnings. Hailing from a family of eight, he remembers one of the few gifts his late mother, a former footballer herself, gave him. It was a pair of boots, and before she passed away, she left him another.
She told him to never give up on his dream of making it big in football. To this day, the 22-year-old still lives by those words.
“Just before my mother died, she told me I must not leave football. I was 16 at the time. Since that day, I felt like football was all I had to do,” he says.
Like Billiat and many other young footballers from the African continent, Msendami is a graduate of the school of the hard knocks. Nothing ever came easy for Msendami. As soon as he waved goodbye to puberty, he became starkly aware that football was not just a hobby. His feet were handy tools to help in the hard work of feeding a family of eight.
“When I was playing for Highlanders juniors, I used to come with two loaves of bread at home. They appreciated it a lot at home… After that, I would play money games to win and raise money to buy soccer boots,” he says.
At home, Msendami was appreciated. At a very tender age, he was already a breadwinner in every sense of the word. However, his mother had always known that she was raising a lad of integrity. One that was ready to put the family’s burdens on his tender shoulders. It was on the football field, however, where he was a stunning revelation.
A RUDE AWAKENING
Humphrey ‘Mzizi’ Maseva, the coach at Flame Stars, an amateur side based in the high-density suburb of Nkulumane in Bulawayo, recalls that, although he had not thought much of Msendami when he first strolled onto their dusty training field, he was in for a rude awakening when he stepped on the field. As Msendami sunk his teeth into his trusted defenders, he was left salivating about watching him again in the next training session.
“His little face was a familiar one from the area as I knew his family. Our first football meeting would have been sometime early in 2011 during our pre-season when he came in for training. Initially, I didn’t look at him because I had played with his elder brothers, and neither was a natural football talent.
“So, I assumed he had that gene as well. Big mistake. When he arrived, he was training with the Under 14s as there weren’t many of his age on the day. He kept up with their pace during warm-up, and I just assumed he was probably a good athlete.
“When the ball reached his feet, he did wonders. The type of player who would make you look forward to the next session or game. Very impressive from scratch though diminutive,” Maseva tells FARPost.
Like Billiat, Msendami was a pocket rocket, a little explosive dynamo that could turn defences inside out with his nimble feet. However, as exciting as the youngster they had nicknamed ‘Ginger’ was, Maseva knew he was a big fish in a very little pond. For him to truly flourish, he needed to swim in broader waters.
A RITE OF PASSAGE
“He played three seasons for us as an Under 14, then, as most talented teens would, he wanted to explore his talent elsewhere. He went to Highlanders’ juniors for two Under 16 seasons, returned to Flame Stars for his first year at Under 18, and then rejoined Highlanders for his final junior year, where he was subsequently registered with their first team.
“I had no doubt. My only worry was his tiny stature. We had to nickname him Ginger because he was untouchable,” he said.
Msendami recalls when the Highlanders’ development coaches took him through his paces. At the Zimbabwean giants, he turned into a Swiss Army Knife of sorts, fulfilling a few roles with unfailing efficiency.
For any young lad growing up in Bulawayo, playing for the Highlanders junior side is a source of pride, a rite of passage many dare not miss if they aspire to rub shoulders with the big boys.
From ex-Mamelodi Sundowns star Peter Ndlovu to Benjani Mwaruwari and Marvelous Nakamba, some of Zimbabwe’s most illustrious footballers have passed through this famous nursery of footballing talent. Playing for the first team is a preserve of the few.
However, Msendami became a victim of his success after a loan spell in the country’s first division.
“I just went on loan in March 2021 at Vumba Chikee. I spent three months there. I played 12 games, and I scored eight goals as a winger. The team was number seven when I arrived, and I left them in second place when Highlanders recalled me. Highlanders told me I was going to be promoted. I went to play for Bosso90 to finish the league. I played six games and scored in all the games. That’s when I was promoted,” Msendami tells FARPost.
LOST MSENDAMI TO JWANENG GALAXY BY ACCIDENT
Bosso90 coach Melusi ‘Mabaleka’ Sibanda recalls how his beloved Highlanders lost Msendami to Jwaneng Galaxy by accident.
“The Botswana team was looking for a striker, but they saw Msendami. We were playing a friendly game in Bulawayo, and I had recommended two strikers. Msendami was on song on the day, and they said they would rather take him and not the striker,” he tells FARPost.
A year after he left, the man who scouted him, Mabaleka, says that Highlanders, a side chasing their first championship in 17 years, still do not have a player of his caliber.
“You enjoy when you find him on song. He’s such an exciting player. He has speed and dribbling. No player can match the boy at Highlanders right now,” he says.
Msendami never realised his dream of playing for one of the traditional “Big Three” in Zimbabwe. In this regard, he is again similar to Billiat, who never got a chance to set the Zimbabwean topflight alight. Billiat, Msendami says, is a player he has studied intensely, although he would like to go further than his idol and crack the nod in Europe.
“I love Khama Billiat because I’ve learnt a lot from the videos of him that I watch. I’d love to speak to him,” he says.
In Botswana, Msendami has been a revelation, providing a constant headache for defences struggling to handle his pace and trickery. As brilliant as he is, Msendami credits Jwaneng Galaxy coach Morena Ramoreboli, a man he now regards as a father figure.
MSENDAMI ON MORENA RAMOREBOLI
“He’s done well for me. He’s free-spirited, always smiling and is a good leader. He always tells me that he believes in me. He loves me a lot. I love the way he understands players. He’s very ambitious. He has what it takes to coach big teams in SA,” he says.
Ramoreboli and Msendami are on the verge of winning the Botswana Premier League with just two games to go.
For his part, Ramoreboli believes that with his mixture of assured arrogance and confidence on the ball, Msendami might indeed be the second coming of Billiat.
“He’s one player whom I believe, if he remains focused, can be the next Khama Billiat,” Ramoreboli said.
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