Tinashe Nengomasha (born 2 September 1982 in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

) is a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played primarily as a midfielder for

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Chie ...

and

Bidvest Wits Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premier Soccer League the first-tier of South African league football system. ...

in the South African

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

and the Zimbabwe National team. Nicknamed "The General" for his command of the game, Tinashe was pivotal during his ten-year career at Kaizer Chiefs and is regarded as one of the best Central defensive midfielders in the history of the Chiefs during which time he won numerous awards. Tinashe won both the South Africa PSL Players' Player of the Season and the PSL Footballer of the Year awards in 2003 and 2004. He also appeared in Zimbabwe's PSL and played for Zimbabwe Warriors in the 2004 AFCON tournament.

Personal life

Anna Nengomasha, the mother of Tinashe Nengomasha revealed that during the early days of her son's career, Tinashe would skip training with the national team because he was afraid of playing alongside Peter Ndlovu and officials would come home in search of him. Anna also attributed the success of her son to her consistent prayers and fasting before every match. She said she was a member of an apostolic sect and that every time Tinashe goes into a game with Kaizer Chiefs she would go into fasting for 24 hours before every game and her son would nearly always have a great match. He married Samantha Mtukudzi, the daughter of the late Music legend,

Oliver Mtukudzi Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi (22 September 1952 – 23 January 2019) was a Zimbabwean musician, businessman, philanthropist, human rights activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Southern Africa Region. Career Mtukudzi grew up in Highfield, a ...

. The couple wedded on 25 December 2011 but had a scandalous divorce just 8 years later. They have two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nengomasha, Tinashe 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Harare Zimbabwean footballers Zimbabwean expatriate footballers Zimbabwe international footballers Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Association football midfielders Highlanders F.C. players Black Aces FC players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Bidvest Wits F.C. players Expatriate soccer players in South Africa 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players