Lure of football was too great for Muchichwa to ignore

Muchichwa decided to retire when now defunct Thanda Royal Zulu were relegated from the Absa Premiership in 2009.

The former Zimbabwean international worked as a construction worker in Durban, building schools immediately after retirement, doing odd jobs in between building projects.

“It was difficult for me to quit, it was difficult to accept I had to stop playing. After moving from one club to the next, you get there, you play and move to another one. But after Thanda were relegated, that’s when I thought it was time to retire,” said Muchichwa.

Muchichwa moved his family to KZN shortly after hanging up his boots and has lived in the province ever since. He took coaching classes part-time while working in construction, hoping to returnto the game as a coach. The former Warriors striker is coaching in the SAB Castle League after getting his badges. Although it wasn’t easy, the 42-year-old says he knew he had to go back to football.

“After working in construction for a while, I wanted to get back into coaching. You know football is like a drug, you get addicted so I had to go back to football that is what I wanted.

“It was not easy for me to get a job as a coach, it was really tough. You go here and there, but eventually someone put their trust in me. It comes with its own challenges – when you are a player you only focus on yourself, but now as a coach, you are responsible for other people, so that also plays a part.”

Muchichwa has advised players to put all their efforts into the game when they play in top-flight football and don’t let the temptation of adding to their earnings from businesses stop them from reaching their full potential. The 42-year-old says he played his heart out each time he was on the field, hoping that scouts would look to Zimbabwe to find players to bolster their squads.

“I look at the players we (Zimbabwe) have today in the PSL and I am happy they are carrying on with the work, they are doing us proud. Players like Billiat, Mahachi and Ndoro. I always wanted people to look at me and say ‘who is that guy and where is he from? Let’s go get more players from there’. I always think it’s best for players to invest their money. Then once you are done you can focus on business.”