Blantyre United banks on prayers not juju in their success Written by Arkangel Tembo for MANA. Nobody would answer yes if you asked them whether praying hard helps a team to win a game or trophies. Yet we have seen many players praying, making a sign of the cross or hold hands, at some decisive moments of their games. One of Malawi’s Super League out-fits, Blantyre United players, solemnly grouped themselves up to pray before reaching their match destination. Ahead of their TNM Super League encounter against Big Bullets in Nchalo, the new rookies stopped at Chikhwawa Boma under a big tree to pray and share the word of God among them before proceeding to the venue of the match. In most of the league games, Blantyre United players like Sparrow Msowoya and Victor Limbani make a sign of a cross on uncountable number of times. Mphembedzu midfielder, Limbani made a sharp sign of the cross when Big Bullets midfielder, Dalitso Sailesi’s bullet shot hit the crossbar in their 1-1 draw game. And when Tizyowere Nyirenda scored his goal during this game, he was seen raising both arms up to the sky to thank heavens after scoring. What is the secret of Blantyre United’s success that has made them to still remain in the League then, heaven or skills? I have wondered myself. Blantyre United coach, Elijah Kananji would tell his men to pray hard ahead of an impending match at their Escom Ground training base in Makata. What he tells his young lads is to train, jump, tackle and run; yet during encounters, he as well as players wither into a sober and fidgety mood, seeking divine intervention – as if all their skills, training and counter strategies just weren’t enough to subdue their opponents. Is this caused by fear, uncertainty or simply a way of being humble to attract sympathies and favour from beyond? Or to invoke the powers of luck? Where do they keep their skills then, if luck and prayers should decide a match? Blantyre United Technical Director, Lawson Nakoma tells the Malawi News Agency (Mana) that every team needs help from above at times, no matter how strong they are. “Football is like every other human endeavour. You see a medical doctor praying before beginning surgery; that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know his work. I’ve seen even bus drivers making a sign of the cross before starting their journey at Wenela,” he says. “At Blantyre United, we do not believe in Juju but God. Most of the teams do not believe that we rely on God. So don’t condemn footballers for praying even if they’re talented. It’s just part of us humans,” Nakoma concludes. Nakoma says their team knows well enough that their skills and training might not be enough to bring the desired victory, so they pray for help from above “Anything can happen in a match: red cards, injuries, goalkeeping mistakes. These things may alter the fate of the encounter. So we pray so that the day will augur well for us without these ugly occurrences,” says Nakoma. Blantyre United captain, Victor Limbani says they choose one among themselves (players) to preach the Word of God before any game. For instance, during their game against Big Bullets in Nchalo, Limbani was responsible to preach the Word of God to his colleagues. “We start with a prayer before singing several choruses. After the songs, we choose one player to lead us into a prayer before preaching the Word of God,” says Limbani. Chipping in was Blantyre United coach, Elijah Kananji who stressed that they do not hesitate to fire any player implicated in Juju because their belief is to trust in God. “Not just players, we also encourage our fans to trust prayers not Juju like these other teams in the League do,” But, whose prayer would God answer if fans of both teams keep praying fervently while their respective teams dig it out on the pitch? Let us assume that the prayers of fans and their teams annul each other, what we would be left with is still strength and skill, which I feel may bring victory. Don’t you think so? Kananji concludes by stating that it is unfortunate that other teams use Juju while at the same time seeking God’s intervention. -PFP
Posted on: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 05:49:11 +0000
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