Mwinyi Kazimoto

Never mind his diminutive size, Mwinyi Kazimoto is arguably the best midfielder in Tanzania. His  precise and accurate ball distribution separates him from the rest of the pack, simply  puts him at the top of the pyramid. The  small built  Tanzanian rarely misplaces a pass, you will definitely have to be very  patient to witness his misplaced pass. Having seen him battling with the best midfielders, going toe to toe, matching them skill to skill, many have not shied away  from declaring his supreme ball control and distribution being up there with the best.

 In spite of his size, Kazimoto  likes the ball at his feet. He is very comfortable  with the ball at his feet. Not only does he knows when to pass it, he knows how to pass it, rarely over-hitting or under-hitting a pass. In a domestic league where  so many players  are limited in their passing range, where only a handful can accurately  pull off an accurate long range pass, Kazimoto stands out head and shoulder high. His  is  a  delightful combination of  both long and short range accurate passes. He excels in holding up play to enable his team mates to breathe and absorb the pressure from opponents. He is tenacious with the ball excellently shielding and screening it  before picking out a well-placed team mate.

Playing for Simba and Taifa Stars, Kazimoto exudes confidence, calmness and intelligence. His composure with the ball has rightly earned him a nickname, Ball Dancer. In a period where we have seen our local players so much devoid of calmness to the extent of often picking needless cards, Kazimoto offers a ray of hope and restores our fading faith in local talents. His calmness, confidence and intelligence is a reflection of professional discipline that has made him a darling to many fans. In a country equally divided between Simba and Yanga, a healthy but very extreme rivalry, where it is an abomination to  admire and  covet  your rival  player even when  playing for the national team, Kazimoto is among the very few Tanzanian player whose inclusion in the national team set up is always praised by both set of fans from Simba and Yanga. His absence in Taifa Stars is always missed by even the most ardent of all Yanga fans. A very rare feat  achieved by very few players in Tanzania.

What he lacks in size is fully compensated with his calmness. Many still remember the  Cecafa semi-final match against  Uganda’s Cranes. Most of our players lost their heads in the end resorting to some shameful and embarrassing thuggish tackles.  Despite the bitter humiliation calmness and composure never deserted Kazimoto. He just kept playing the game as he knows, spraying and spreading the ball neatly to his team mates who had nothing to play for, all pride gone, humbly humiliated in front of the mammoth patriotic home crowd. He kept moving on, chasing all the loose balls, covering all the necessary ground. Indeed a consistent professional, doing the right thing even when there is nothing left to play for.

In the history of the beautiful game that is football, there has been  a tendency for short player to go for hard needless tackles to compensate for their size and to prove that they can play it rough with the heavily built players. Perhaps, the Manchester United midfielder maestro, Paul Scholes illustrates this observed tendency clearly. Throughout his illustrious and trophy laden career Scholes has been  accussed of committing needless tackles that have seen him accumulate an unnecessary large number of yellow cards. Scholes admitted to trying to stick up his boots to show he can match the big size player. On the contrary in spite of his small size Kazimoto, though never afraid the hard tackle, never goes for the needless tackles. On  most occasion he wins the ball with a clean touch.

To Cap it all, he has a tendency of scoring crucial goals. His goals always scream of quality. He packs his shot with enough power to beat any top goalkeeper. Unsurprisingly he was Tanzania’s top scorer in the Cecafa tournament held in Dar two years ago. Most of his goals are not the simple tap-in, his are screaming shot or magical dribbling culminating with a goal. The last year December friendly match against Zambia saw him floating magically with the ball to the awe of many fans. He was just not lucky to cap his brilliant performance against Africa’s best with a goal.

Sadly he is still playing in a very uncompetitive domestic league, a league so much devoid of competition that only two teams have won the league in the past decade. With his ability he should be somewhere in a competitive league exhibiting his talent among the best and well paid. He can seamless fit in most South African League clubs, Egyptian and Sudanese clubs.  He perfectly fits in  any African club that aims for possession football. Hopefully we will one day see him donning a shirt from one of the big boys of African club soccer or somewhere in Europe. The football world is yours to conquer, hear me Kazimoto.