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Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
BIBLICALLY, the number seven was symbolic in prehistoric near eastern and Israelite ethos as well as in written works as it communicated a sense of “fullness” or “completeness”.

For FC Platinum captain Gift Bello, completeness was achieved for the veteran defender when he lifted his seventh Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title.

The Delta Beverages bankrolled league is arguably one of the biggest and most popular football competitions south of the Sahara.

It has been home to some of the biggest superstars of the game over the years. The PSL is known for its intense physicality and competitive nature. Despite being one of the toughest competitions in the region, the league has largely been dominated by Dynamos, Highlanders, Caps United and of late FC Platinum.

Interestingly, on Saturday, Zvishavane based FC Platinum were crowned champions four times on the trot, a milestone that was previously archived by Bosso (between 1998 and 2002) and DeMbare (2011 to 2014).

Norman Mapeza’s men deservedly celebrated to achieve that feat on that rainy Saturday afternoon in the cauldron of their magnificent Mandava Stadium and it is an accomplishment which is coupled by the fact that they are now the only side from outside Harare and Bulawayo to win four straight titles.

While likes of club captain Petros Mhari, Lawrence Mhlanga, 20-year-old Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya, Wallace Magalane, Brian Banda, Innocent Muchaneka, their poster boy Walter Musona, Mapeza and his technical team among others in the Pure Platinum Play camp were all visibly feeling on top of the world, it was a day when Bello etched his name into immortality.

Bello (38) bagged his exceptional seventh PSL championship medal, a new personal milestone on his supposedly swansong fully fledged PSL dance. As FC Platinum celebrated on a muddy Mandava pitch, Bello was captured signalling seven with his fingers in was a momentous occasion for the veteran defender.

“I won three PSL league titles with Dynamos from 2011 to 2013. I got my fourth league title in 2017 after joining FC Platinum. We have gone for four league titles in a row and the 2021/2022 season has presented me with my seventh league title,” said the soft-spoken Bello on the other side of the phone.

He added: “I’m really happy, this is not a mean achievement because it is not always easy to emerge as champions in any competition. It’s a big achievement for me and I have always wanted to achieve great things I have seen other local based players achieve.”

By his deeds and those of his teammates and coaches, Bello has been powered to glory, to the league of extraordinary men where he meets Caps United’s midfield enforcer Devon Chafa who also has seven league titles under his belt.

Guess what, Bello didn’t know that Chafa was the first local player to have seven league titles.

“Ahh isn’t it Mkhokheli Dube mdara? (Elder is it not Mkhokheli Dube,” he quizzed.

We have on good authority that Dube has six local PSL titles he won with Bosso in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and with FC Platinum in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

In 2019, Chafa, a former Warriors player became the first player in Zimbabwean football to win seven league titles with three different teams within eight years.

Interestingly, he was then doing duty for FC Platinum who beat his current paymasters Caps United on the last day of the season at National Sports Stadium to help him realise his rare achievement.

Chafa won four league titles with Dynamos from 2011 to 2014.

He won his fifth title in 2016 with Makepekepe, his sixth and seventh with  Pure Platinum Play in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Only in 2015, when he was at How Mine, 2017 and 2021/2022 season when he was at Caps United, has Chafa failed to win the championship since he moved to Dynamos from Kiglon in 2011. – @FungaiMuderere