Enjoy your retirement, Sunday Chidzambwa!

A great servant of Zimbabwean football has decided to hang up his coaching board.

Sunday Marimo Chidzambwa or in the streets “Mhofu” or “Mhofela” born 4 May 1952 in Enkeldoorn (now Chivu) in Zimbabwe known then as Southern Rhodesia is one of the most successful and most revered coaches in the country because, what he has achieved as a coach is only but a dream to many.

Chidzambwa started off as a player on the books of Dynamos FC the most successful club in Zimbabwe and during his playing days he boasted an incredible five league titles with Dembare. The man went as far as representing Zimbabwe in a FIFA world cup qualifying match and when he decided to call it quits as a player, swopped his boots for a coaching board and whistle.

One of Zimbabwe’s proudest moments came when our national team the Warriors qualified for the prestigious 2004 Africa Cup Of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Tunisia. Songs were composed in celebration, the whole country in unison, the streets brightly coloured with the Zimbabwean flag and this because Mhofu had achieved the dream that had eluded even the great “Dream Team” led by the late Reinhard Fabisch of the 90s.

The 67-year-old, Chidzambwa is a national hero and his coaching career even went beyond Zimbabwe having had stints in the South African PSL with Black Leopards and Free State Stars which is a feat very few Zimbabwean coaches have managed to attain to this day.

Locally he coached his Dynamos and under his helm, they became the first and only Zimbabwean club to make an African club competition final in 1999.

However, whenever the national team needed a worthy gaffer ZIFA always had his number of speed dial with his last national team stint coming in 2019.

Chidzambwa confirmed on Star FM that it was time to close this chapter although he still remains a servant of the game as he also confirmed that he will now be an adviser to those who will need his expertise in the game.

This is a great man who has given so much to football and his life is worthy of celebration because his impact on Zimbabwean football changed the way the world viewed the country as a footballing nation.

Enjoy your retirement Mr Sunday Marimo “Mhofu” Chidzambwa we are grateful for everything you gave to us as a nation.
By Tinashe-Shingai Mukandatsama (@tinashe_shingai)