Contrasting fortunes for player and his former clubs

Raymond Jaravaza

IF ever there is a football player who embraces the phrase ‘moving to greener pastures’ that man is Ishmael Wadi. 

He probably looks at the clubs that he left in Zimbabwe and feels vindicated for dumping them to try his luck somewhere else. 

That somewhere is in South Africa where Wadi is having a time of his life at the Motsepe Foundation Championship club JDR Stars. 

The Motsepe Foundation Championship is the second-tier league after the South African top-flight league – the DStv Premiership. 

Wadi is carving his name as a goal scoring machine with eight goals in 12 starts, which make him the top goal scorer in the league. 

Since the return of the Motsepe Foundation Championship from the World Cup break, a few weeks ago, Wadi has scored three times.

A fortnight ago he netted a solitary goal that helped JDR Stars to a narrow 1-0 victory over Pretoria Callies.

Last Sunday he was again on the score sheet, scoring twice in both halves as his team ran riot over Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila with a thumping 5-0 victory.

Wadi who was with the Warriors at the AFCON tournament in Cameroon last year in January, has been impressive for JDR Stars since joining the club in 2021 from CAPS United. 

In Zimbabwe, the two teams that he played for (Caps United and Bulawayo City FC) had a horrible season last year. 

Let’s start with Bulawayo City FC. 

So bad was the 2022 season for the Bulawayo City Council owned team that they were relegated from the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.

From 34 league matches, the team managed just seven wins, nine draws, lost 18 games and the poor results sent Bulawayo City FC to Division One. 

Word reaching B-Metro Sport is that the club is considering not playing in Division One but rather turn the franchise into a fully-fledged academy. 

For a team of Caps United’s calibre, finishing the 2022 season on 11th position is just unheard of. 

But it happened. 

The team won nine matches, collected 13 draws and lost 12 games to cap a miserable season that the players, club executive and supporters would like to forget about. 

Wadi is smiling in South Africa while his former clubs lick their wounds. – @RaymondJaravaza