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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
HAVING produced arguably the greatest player to ever come out of Zimbabwe, Peter Ndlovu, legendary juniors’ football coach Ali “Baba” Dube believes that the next Nsukuzonke is yet to be born.

Ali “Baba” Dube

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the day he was honoured by Zimbabwe Football Forum, Dube said the youngsters playing at the moment are not good enough to fill the boots left by the great Ndlovu.

The legendary juniors coach also believes that no one will ever surpass Ndlovu in Zimbabwean football. Youngsters like Prince Ndlovu of Highlanders, who made his senior team debut at the age of 16 in July have been likened to the legendary former Zimbabwe Warriors skipper, but Dube is not yet convinced.

“He is yet to be born, they will be lying, no one will ever be like Peter. maybe he is yet to be born and no one will ever surpass Peter in terms of football. Peter played for Highlanders at a young age of 16 years,” said Dube.

Dube also narrated how Ndlovu used to grab all the attention worldwide whenever they travelled on tours thus showing how excellent he was and how hard it will be to replicate him. “We went with Peter to Aberdeen and by the time we got to the ground, it would be full of Europeans surrounding the entire grounds just to watch Peter and he was voted player of the tournament and top goal scorer at the time,” he said.

According to Dube, Ndlovu was among the first group to play a five-a-side tournament and they had to divide the teams into two and they were so good that they ended up playing against each other in the final. Ndlovu was voted player of the tournament once again.

Peter Ndlovu

The dominance did not only end at the five-a-side tournament but also the young Ndlovu carried his prowess to the Ian Rush tournament in Wales in which he was the centre of attraction once again with his great skills on the field of play.

“We went to Wales to play in the Ian Rush tournament and Peter was the top goal scorer and everyone wanted to mark him but he proved too good,” said Dube.

Dube who is still in the coaching arena, with an academy called Ali Baba Football Foundation, said some of the boys under his watch at the moment are good enough to go all the way in football but still believes none of them will ever be like nor overtake the legendary Peter Ndlovu.

“The next Peter is yet to be born but there are some Ali Baba boys that have the potential to play,” he said.
Dube also expressed his unhappiness over the lack of consultation from today’s football coaches, stating that despite all the experience he has in football, the new crop of coaches think they know it all.

“They think they know it all, Highlanders juniors are not training but they want young players in first teams, it will not happen because the boys need to train,” he said.

Dube, who is turning 75 in December started his juniors coaching journey back in 1973 and is still going strong to date. — Follow on Twitter @brandon_malvin