The game breakers!

Hammering goals home is the essence of the game, how they are scored is the soul of soccer and how they are celebrated is the culture of the game. Granted, soccer is a team sport but within the confines of team work, one player raises his hand to lead his team’s supporters to endless bouts of ecstasy. It is called sheer individual brilliance where one player takes his God given talent to another level. On Saturday at the Somhlolo Stadium at 6pm when Mbabane Swallows date Manzini Wanderers for the third time this season, the spotlight will fall on two players, whose brilliance in the belly of the park, as sports commentators are wont to say, may decide the outcome of the game.

Both are the fulcrum of their teams and when they are on song, the team’s fans sing along. Below we look at the strengths and weaknesses of both players.

In some quarters, he is referred to as the Rolls Royce of the team, but at times his performance makes one believe he is an old Rolls Royce that is malfunctioning or worse, an old Nissan 1400 bakkie that has seen better days.

But that doesn’t change the fact that he is one of the star players in the team. He seems to dictate the mood at Swallows as when he is on form, the ‘Birds’ fly sky high and when he is woefully off form, the red and white faithful slump in depression. Such is his influence. Swallows will need him on his best form to stop the shocking results including the ignominy of losing 3-0 to Malanti Chiefs and 4-1 to Umbelebele/Cosmos, which culminated to the bombing out of the Top Lotto/PLS Cup.

He has the touch of an artist. When he is on form, there is something special, something magical about this Zimbabwean international. His control is effortless. In fact he seems to glide and dance with the ball at the same time that when you watch him in full flight, he seems to be ferried to another world completely different from us. He also has a knack of scoring vital games and seems to reserve his best for the big games where he takes the centre stage.

"See me now, see me no more!", whoever coined this cliché must have had him in mind. Sometimes you have to pinch yourself to believe he is still on the pitch in some games as he disappears into obscurity.

One cannot help but agree with some commentators that sometimes he gives Swallows 60% of his true potential. He excels intermittently but does not impose himself.

One can really picture some of the premier league players wondering what they are doing on the pitch when they see what he does with the ball. On his day you even wonder why he is not in the national team’s set up.

He oozes class, his passes are perfect in every dimension but then again, he hangs on the ball for too long as if it were lollypop and he also suffers from the sickness of disappearing on the pitch like a mirage on a hot day in a desert.

If he learnt to release the ball on time and also get into scoring areas he could be a complete player.

His passes are perfect in every dimension. His free kicks are legendary and when he puts his mind into it, he is a joy to watch. Not one to shy away from the tough tackles and also tries his best to uplift his team-mate as captain.

Lil’ Wayne must have had him in mind when he composed his hit ‘Lollypop’ – he lets the ball stick to his feet like a lollypop to the tongue. He seems to be a pathological attention seeker as he wants all the glory to himself and refuses to pass the ball to his other team-mates. Football, Manqoba, is a team sport.

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