By Rex Mphisa
THE Zimbabwe National Football Association (ZIFA) has apologised to the nation in connection with a incident involving soccer star Tinotenda Kadewere and journalist Yvonne Mangunda during a training session at Orlando Stadium.
Warriors, the Zimbabwe national team in which Kadewere is part, locks horns with the Rwanda national team in South Africa and the two clashed during a session open to the media.
In a press release of September 9, 2025 headlined “Orlando Stadium Media Open Training Session Incident” incident viral on the social media Zifa said:
“The Zimbabwe Football Association notes with deep regret the incident that occurred at Orlando Stadium during the Warriors’ media open training session, involving national team player Tinotenda Kadewere and journalist Yvonne Mangunda.
“ZIFA strongly condemns any form of abuse towards the media. Journalists are a vital part of the game, and we are committed to ensuring they carry out their duties without fear or intimidation. The player has apologised to Ms Mangunda, and an amicable understanding between the two parties has been reached. The matter is being addressed through the appropriate disciplinary processes by both the team management and the Association.
“We take full responsibility for upholding the highest standards of conduct within our teams and reaffirm our commitment to respectful engagement with all stakeholders.”
Football followers across the country have welcomed the development allowing the game of football to take lead.
Some fans however criticised Mangunda for her post which sparked the debacle saying as a Football writer she must understand that player’s like everyone else can hit a dry spell but that does not mean they are not trying.
“Of course Football, like any other sport or profession has its bad days. We have the case of former Manchester City player Benjani Mwaruwaru who was brilliant but took long to score. But one day he scored the all important goal because the coach kept faith in him,” a supporter from Beitbridge said.
On February 10, 2008 Mwaruwari’s most significant goal for Manchester City came against rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The goal was a flicked header from a Martin Petrov cross, giving City a 2-0 lead and ultimately securing their first win at Old Trafford in decades, making Benjani an instant hero and a club legend.
“It is also the reporter’s role as a Zimbabwean to constructively criticise players but from my view Mangunda mocked Kadewere when she posted comments on her Facebook page.
In a thinly veiled post Mangunda said “If this tall striker could score for the faith the coach has shown in him” which some people viewed as mockery.
Elsewhere in the world Ziyah News Network gathered statistics of top players who went through a similar patch.
Some of the world’s best-attacking players can go through ducks that they can’t seem to get out of, and even the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer Alan Shearer had some tough spells – he went 12 games without a goal for Newcastle United towards the end of the 2004/05 season.
We gathered together the statistics to have an in-depth look at players who have struggled in front of goal.
This list has been whittled down to a top 10 of attacking players who found goals hard to come by. Some big-name players have made the list, and some may come as a bit of a surprise.
Whether a player is having off-field issues, falling out with the manager or coming back from a serious injury, droughts in front of goal can happen for a variety of reasons. We look at why the players on our list had such a torrid time.
The list has been ordered by the number of games a player has gone without scoring and is based on Premier League games only.
For example, if a player scored in a domestic cup, European or international competition, this does not count towards breaking their run of poor form in England’s top division.
In the interest of fairness, the list has been made using games each player was available for. If they were missing through injury or not included in the match day squad, it did not go towards their barren spell.
Now, without further ado, here are the top ten longest goal droughts in Premier League history by forwards.
The Longest Goal Droughts in Premier League History
1 Alan Smith in 70 games for Manchester United/Newcastle during the period 2005-2012 scored 2 goals.
2. Luis Boa Morte in 56 games for West Ham United between 2007-2010 scored just 3.
3 Saido Berahino in 48 games for Stoke City between 2017-2018 scored just 4
4 Shane Long appearing in 47 games for Southampton between 2020 and 2022 scored 5
5 Richard Cresswell in 45 games he turned out for Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester City and Stoke City in from 2000-2009 scored just 6.
6. El Hadji Diouf in 40 appearances for Liverpool Bolton between 2003-2004 did not score.
7 Jeremie Aliadiere in 39 matches for Arsenal/West Ham United between 2002-2007 failed.
8 Emmanuel Riviere in 31 matches for Newcastle United in 2014-2015 failed.
9 Eden Hazard, did not score in 29 matched he appeared for Chelsea during the season 2015/2016
10 Christian Benteke in 25 matches for Crystal Palace failed to score in 2021.