By Nqobani Ndlovu
Former Warriors playmaker Ronald ‘Gidiza’ Sibanda is seriously ill and is being nursed by his mother at her Bulawayo home, NewsDay is reporting.
The 34-year-old Sibanda has been moved out of his Nketa home and is being nursed at his mum’s home in Lobengula West high-density suburb due to his deteriorating health.
Sibanda, who is now a gaunt figure, started complaining of chest pains and flu-like symptoms late last year until his condition worsened this year. He refused to disclose the doctor’s diagnosis on his health, in an interview with NewsDay on Wednesday.
However, he opened up on his ruined career blaming it on indiscipline and the bottle. He said had he not been a heavy beer drinker, he could be currently playing football abroad.
“During my days, I used to drink a lot and I was undisciplined. The current crop of players who are getting a lot of money compared to our playing days should be careful and make wise decisions.
“They need discipline and they need not drink so that they can go further with their soccer careers. If I was not drinking the way I used to, I could be far by now,” Sibanda said.
The former Dynamos and AmaZulu player, who constantly complained of chest pains during the interview, said he had quit the bottle because of ill health.
“I regret all that I did during my playing days . . . many of us did not have focus those days. Players like Esrom (Nyandoro) and Peter (Ndlovu) went that far because they were disciplined and did not drink like us,” said Sibanda, who turns 35 in August.
Sibanda, despite being gifted, had a chequered career having cut his teeth at Zimbabwe Saints in 1999. He never formally retired from football but was capped many times for the Warriors. He was part of the history-making squad that played in the African Nations Cup final in Tunisia in 2004.
The first band of the Warriors to take part in the Nations Cup finals were under the tutelage of Sunday Chidzambwa. Despite his known disciplinary problems, Chidzambwa was an admirer of Sibanda’s talent and called him up into the Warriors.
Sibanda was also part of the senior national team that qualified for the 2006 Nations Cup in Egypt under Charles Mhlauri. Sibanda played for the cash-rich side AmaZulu from 2001 until 2005. He was known for his disappearing acts after being paid and would hit the city nightspots.
At Usuthu he was once put down by a serious eye infection. In 2005, he played for Dynamos, but health problems continued to blight his career.
“People can say whatever they like, I know I am fine. I have four more years to play football. I have been missing from training because I had an ankle injury and not malaria,” he was quoted as saying by our sister paper The Standard in May 2006 when questioned about his health.
He signed a play-as-you-earn contract with Njube Sundowns in 2008, who later loaned him to Botswana side Santos but would constantly go AWOL on being paid. Sibanda is a father of two boys, Brendan (15) and Brian (11). Brendan is following in his father’s footsteps as he now plays for Lobengula’s Miracle Under-16 team. NewsDay