By Sheldon Hakata
SPORT development is usually an integral part of any successful sporting country when there are solid grassroots structures.
This gives budding sportspersons a chance to learn the basics at a tender age preparing them for the rigorous demands of top flight challenges.
Successful football countries have invested in young players.
North African countries are a good example of nations that have taken football development to greater heights.
The numerous awards are a reflection of rewards from exporting players to big leagues in Europe.
Zimbabwe used to have proper grassroots football structures in the 1980s and 1990s with traditional giants CAPS United, Dynamos and Highlanders leading the way.
Back then, all clubs had similar structures, and juniors graduated easily.
During those days, Zimbabwean soccer became a force to reckon with on the continent with the senior national team, the Warriors, beating African giants like Cameroon, Egypt among others with ease.
Zimbabwe is now woefully lagging behind other countries in the region and the continent.
The dismal performance of the reigning champions FC Platinum in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League has once again raised questions on the quality of our football and how it is managed.
Football authorities need to overhaul the way they do business completely or else our football will collapse.
The CAF Champions League is an annual continental club football competition run by the CAF where top club sides from Africa’s football leagues are invited to take part in the competition. It is the premiere club football competition in the continent, equivalent to UEFA Champions League.
The CAF Champions League operates as a knockout competition.
The reigning champions are Esperance of Tunisia.
The erratic performance of Zimbabwean clubs and their poor showing in continental competitions has put a remarkable dent on local football.
Zimbabwe has endured tough times and found the going tough in the African Safari campaign.
When FC Platinum play in the CAF Champions League group stages, they should just score goals.
Despite an impressive blend of football tactics, ball possession and attempts at goal, the platinum miners fell short in the attacking third.
Football’s secret is; goals win matches.
African club competitions have a brutal way of reminding what the game is, especially if a team does not score.
If goals were the currency, then FC Platinum are broke and deserve to anchor the bottom of the log in the CAF Champions League Group B.
The Zimbabwean champions were beaten clean by the North African sides, Guinea’s Horoya and Tunisia’s Esperance.
FC Platinum’s impotence in front of goal made them pay the ultimate price for errors too costly at this level of the game.
The Zimbabwean champions are out of contention for a quarter-final slot as they remain rooted at the bottom of their group.
The platinum miners have a single point and are left with only two games to play home and away.
The football gods appear to have cast a dark spell on FC Platinum’s hopes of at least making it third this season.
If a team plays well, there is a good chance to make a mark globally. The miners kicked themselves.
History is heavily staked against the Zimbabwean teams in the African Safari.
Zimbabwean representatives have struggled to come back from heavy defeats by North African opposition.
Dynamos reached the Champions League final in 2008 and were in the mini-league way back in 2010.
Local teams’ performances will not do any good to the reputation of Zimbabwean club football.
None of the country’s representatives have managed to reach the mini-league stage in the CAF Champions League competitions.
FC Platinum, Motor Action, Chicken Inn, CAPS United, Harare City, How Mine and Hwange were all eliminated in the first round of both CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup.
That is not a good record for the Zimbabwean game.
Teams like CAPS United, Dynamos and Highlanders are the benchmark of Zimbabwean football.
If they are not doing well, Zimbabwean football is perceived worldwide as non-performing, no football in Zimbabwe when these teams are not ticking.
Not that the other teams are not important, but the three are the cash cows of local football.
A healthy CAPS United, Dynamos and Highlanders makes football more exciting.
The reigning champions play their last match in CAF Champions League at their fortress, Mandava Stadium, sometime this month.
The stadium was given the green light by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to host continental matches.
The champions remain the only side out of the 16 yet to find target in these group stages.
Critics blasted CAF for unfairness for forcing FC Platinum to play at a neutral venue for its group matches.
All the teams in the group have had the advantage of using their home grounds.
The miners wrap up their group stage campaign with a home tie against Esperance on March 16 at Mandava Stadium.