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FORGET that my beloved Arsenal, just like the red shirts they were wearing, were left red faced by a tactically precise Borussia Dortmund in a Uefa Champions League match during the week. I know that sounds sweet to ears that enjoy victory chants from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea. I say so because they were gloating over the Arsenal loss all week, but such is the game, and before we know it, the big one in the domestic scene is upon us.

From the intriguing action of the European champions league, we come to a weekend of mouth watering derbies, biggest clash in Spain, and the biggest clash in Zimbabwe, and what a coincidence. Thanks to the global village we live in because of satellite television and media social networks, one can follow all the games. It will be from the Soweto derby in South Africa featuring Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, to the El Classico featuring Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain to the Zvishavane derby featuring FC Platinum and Shabanie Mine, to one of the biggest matches across the continent, the clash between Highlanders and Dynamos, which will certainly have a bearing on the title race, no matter the result.

Tomorrow’s game between the country’s biggest teams will certainly bring the country to a standstill. What makes the match even more intriguing is that who ever wins tops the log and brightens chances of winning the title, although a draw will still be good enough for Highlanders as they will maintain their two-point lead over their perennial rivals.

But it has been seven years since Highlanders beat Dynamos in a league match. This means that a child who was born in 2006, the last time Bosso beat DeMbare and ironically won their last league title, has gone past nursery school, pre-school, Grade Zero and is actually now in Grade Two. If you don’t believe it has been rather too long a barren spell for Bosso, just look at a Grade Two child, and keep at the back of your mind that the last time Bosso were victors, that child was not yet born, or was born the very year, and that time, baby napkins were not yet out of fashion for mothers.  It certainly looks such a long time and the reason why Bosso fans badly want to win this time around and they believe their time has come is because they are within striking distance of the title, just like the last time they won it.  They also believe since FC Platinum broke their jinx and finally beat Dynamos, they can also do the same.

In their year of glory, Bosso triumphed in the first leg in Harare 1-0, followed by a 2-0 win in the second round of fixtures at home.  The following years were to be dominated by Dynamos, who underlined their supremacy in the country with three league titles between then and now. In 2007, Dynamos beat Highlanders 2-1 in Harare before settling for a 0-0 draw in Bulawayo. In 2008, all matches ended with similar 1-1 draws and in 2009, Dynamos regained supremacy, winning the first leg at home 4-0 and the reverse leg  1-0 and they were to continue their fine run in 2010, winning the first leg at home 1-0 and getting the reverse fixture at Barbourfields on an awarded 3-0 score line after the match ended prematurely due to crowd trouble with the Harare giants already marching to victory. In 2011, the first leg in Bulawayo ended goalless, before Dynamos took advantage of home advantage to win 3-1 and last year, both matches ended with an identical 1-1 score line with the first leg this season ending with a 1-1 draw as well, although it was marred with controversy after referee Norman Matemera awarded eight minutes of optional time, which allowed Dynamos to find the equaliser with the last kick of the match in Rufaro.

It’s a big game and no doubt, it will be Highlanders’ biggest pay day. Even though the match will be live on a SuperSport television channel, fans still want to feel the stadium atmosphere and they don’t want the risk of missing the game due to power failure and other unseen technical problems. They want to be inside the stadium to cheer their favourite team and they want to witness the action “live”, and thus a sellout crowd is expected.

Highlanders and Dynamos followers including neutrals have taken to the social media and other platforms to discuss the match, but what caught my attention was the statement from veteran journalist Methuseli Moyo. It went like this; “Why do sports journalists call the match between Dynamos and Highlanders ‘The Battle for/of Zimbabwe’? Which army does each team represent? How does a match for three points become a ‘battle’? So it means who wins, wins the country and the loser loses the country? In Spain they have civilised terminology for Barca Vs Madrid, as they do in Italy for for Inter Vs AC/vs Juve. Can’t we come up with a moderate term? Battle of Zimbabwe sounds like war. The Battle of Waterloo. The Battle of Chinhoyi. The Battle of Hwange/Sinamatela. The Battle of Pupu. The Battle of Isandlwana. Battle is war and war sheds blood.”

If you read his statement carefully you are tempted to buy his argument because its just a game of football, and to an extent, you are tempted to think the media, in trying to psyche up  fans and build up to the game, it has contributed to the tension and eventual violence that takes place in and outside the stadium when the two teams clash. Yes, matches between Highlanders and Dynamos will always keep everyone at the edge on their seats and all football fans talking, but it remains a game and should be kept as such – the most beautiful game.

The match means so much to both teams and their supporters.  Both teams are desperate to bag maximum points all the time. Everyone thinks Sunday will be an amazing occasion – an absolute humdinger. But let it not degenerate into a dog fight, as some fans from both sides have been singing all week.

I hate it when a football match degenerates into a dog fight, or a Battle of Pupu or Battle of Chinhoyi as Methuseli queried. It leads to blood shed and damage to property and that is not what everybody wants. Instead of sport unifying people, once it becomes a dog fight and a real battle, it divides people and creates all sorts of problems while in actual sense, before and after the match, both sets of fans should be able to share jokes and drinks because this is just a game. And if players and coaches, whose livelihood is dependent on the outcome of the match can still be friends after the  match, why should fans stage running battles?

Why do I say I hate it when football becomes a dog fight?  I mean you take a young, vulnerable dog which  was made vulnerable because of its allegiance to the owner and force it to engage in serious sustained physical combat with another dog under the control of another owner.

When we keep on drumming up the match between Highlanders and Dynamos as the Battle of Zimbabwe, oblivious of the connotations that some people might put to it, we cultivate a culture where we would be absolutely quick and sure about coming to the moral boiling point over the notion that when your team loses, you have lost everything. At least that is where Methuseli is coming from.

Perhaps that is why one Dynamos fans wrote on facebook: “The atmosphere will be intimidating and there is a possibility of violence especially if we score first. However, a lesson from the past visits show that whatever the outcome, there will be running battles between fans and the police outside and good advice to all the Blue family is that MUSABUDA MUGROUND (don’t go outside the stadium). You can be safer inside than outside. Never attempt to go anywhere near SOWETO (stand) in you blue outfit.”

And even former Dynamos captain, Memory Mucherahowa, took his time to preach peace. “I’m appealing to supporters to refrain from violence even if the result does not go their way. They should know this is just a football match and not war,” said the man who remains as Dynamos’ long-serving skipper from 1993 to 2001, talking to a local daily.

Highlanders fans have also been calling for peace, and encouraging each other to come in numbers to silence their visitors.
What is also interesting going to tomorrow’s match is that both teams have contrasting records. Highlanders have a poor record at home having suffered four of their six defeats so far at home. Dynamos have suffered four losses, and all the losses were outside Harare, which makes their trip to Bulawayo a cagey affair.  What ever the outcome, remember its just a game.

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