'Alcohol, women ruin you'

OFF the pitch, footballers find it difficult to stay away from women or alcohol or both.

Highlanders star Gabriel Nyoni has opened up about the controversial subjects of womanising and beer binges saying footballers must be focused.

"Outside the pitch footballers should be gentlemen, loving fathers or boyfriends, this is where blessings come from.

"Football is a short career, which is dependent upon your body and your body is the one that brings food on the table," says Nyoni.

The Bosso star speaks at a time when some Zimbabwean footballers have seen themselves go off the rails as a result of shenanigans off the pitch.

Nyoni has a reputation of being one of the most focused footballers, having also managed to complete his degree programme and written a book in recent years.

While he is gifted with pace and skill, he is not as talented as some footballers whose lives are being wasted through alcohol abuse and womanising.

Nyoni believes he can still be the best in the domestic front if he sticks to his principles.

"If you abuse your body then you won't be able to play for a longer period. Your body is limited and don't try to make it unlimited through womanising and drug abuse, those things are foreign to your body," he says.

"Let us be soccer players. We should break ankles, knees and legs not hearts. Trust me you won't regret.

Let's play soccer and not girls.

"Let's all unite as footballers to remove the belief that soccer players are only known for loving a lot of women and alcohol

"Let's be footballers with a difference to encourage parents to let their children be involved in sport.

There is a bright future for Zimbabwean football and we just need to start a new, profound and clean record."

Highlanders have opened a new chapter after the arrival of new coach Madinda Ndlovu.

The 25-year-old is one of few senior players that survived the massive changes.

"At the age of 25 from the little I have seen, I can just say I have learnt the art of patience.

"Football isn't just an overnight thing where you just wake up a hero. In fact you have to go through a gruesome process of team and individual training.

"Endurance matters most in football and you should also be an individual who can manage working under pressure, those are some of the lessons I mastered so far. I still have a lot to learn," Nyoni says.

Not many local footballers take their academics seriously. And most of those that have done so give up football before they make it to the top.

It is a different script when it comes to Nyoni.

"I love reading psychology books during my spare time. I have a Bachelors of Commerce degree in Marketing that I attained at NUST.

"I was born in Masvingo and I am the first born in a family of three. I'm not yet married but I have a beautiful daughter Gabriella," Nyoni says.

That the winger has a fall-back position, has not been a factor in his performance.

"With every career the ultimate goal is to feel that you have achieved something in life and your life was worth living.

"I am looking forward to achieve the best result that hard work can bring. The basic and most important thing I can do to boost my career is to keep on putting everything in God's hands.

"I did not create myself and neither did anyone, so I should just talk to the one who created me to help me out in all I do.

"The other thing is to keep on working to get a club outside Zimbabwe for financial benefits," he says.
But how did it all start?

"My career started in primary school where I was the captain of my primary school in grade 7.

"It then continued to high school where again I was the captain of my school. Everything that happened afterwards paved a way for me to join Highlanders.

"Since then I have won individual awards which include Mbada Diamond top goal scorer, Mbada Diamonds fastest goal of the tournament and many Highlanders' Player of the Month awards," he says.

Nyoni could just become part of the generation that will end Highlanders' time in the wilderness.

It has been more than a decade since they last won the league title.

"As a team we have achieved a lot, it's unfortunate that since I joined the club, we have never won the league," says Nyoni.