Malajila the perfect idiot

"….and he is an idiot. Because he should have passed the ball onto a better positioned Kuda Mahachi."

That is what many would probably think of the ‘glorious chance’ that fresh substitute Cuthbert Malajila had in the opening match of AFCON 2017 for Zimbabwe’s Warriors. One he didn't bag.

Gunman under fire...Cuthbert Malajila.

The assumption is Mahachi would DEFINITELY have scored. And maybe because every other person in Zimbabwe is a prophet, we have the ability to definitely predict what would have been had Malajila gone for the pass as opposed to a shot towards goal towards the far post. Apparently Mahachi would NEVER have missed.

But perhaps the beauty of the whole scenario lies in the fact that Malajila indeed DID go for goal.

You see, a striker, who is trained to shoot when within range, has more than the instinct of an armchair critic that we are at home.

Strikers are predators. Animals on the prowl, hunting their prey in the most difficult and pressing of circumstances and when they are within range, they pounce and give their all. And the predatory instinct struck when Malajila went for goal and not the pass across the mouth of goal.

In this case he dint get his prey and the kill shot went straight towards Mbholi. A writer even suggested that Malajila ‘decided to shoot straight at Mbholi.” He decided? Made a conscious decision saying ‘yes, I won’t score but will shoot straight at the stopper...' ?Nobody ‘decides’ to fail.

And Malajila did not make a mistake. He made a bad call. It’s a call that should wizen him no doubt as we go forward. But it hardly a murderous error that should have him hauled to the football equivalent of the International Criminal Court as the memes of thugs going to his home suggested straight after that match. 

Especially since he had hardly warmed into the game fresh from the bench. That he smelt blood that fast while others had been in the game for ages and not come as close as he had shows he is a sure thing for a striker. Even more glorious because he created his own chance from his own flash of individual brilliance. Creating his OWN magic.

And lucky for him, the Warriors may have not killed the Desert Foxes out but there are other animals to hunt. They have a chance to shoot down the Carthage Eagles and shoot spears in the breasts of the Lions of Teranga.

There are still more animals to kill whether animal rights activists like it or not. It is not illegal to go Fox hunting and the Warriors did a respectable job last Sunday. Doubtless we could have done better!

And just like zvihuta they will make sure we shoot down the eagle and make it a meal before we lie down on a lion-hide mats after skinning the lions of Senegal.

And hopefully, after a bad call, it will be Malajila who will turn the tide and show what we have always argued since man walked the earth. Everyone deserves a second chance. And Malajila’s perfect bad call is shortcake compared to the bad calls some of us have made.

Go warriors…score warriors. Score Malajila!