Majid Dhana – The Master Centreback

Majid Dhana

BY Lovemore Dube  26/10/2022

THE 3rd of November 2007 was a sad day as one of the country’s best centrebacks Majid Dhana died at the age of 51.

Arcadia and Zimbabwe community had lost a hero, a star who had shone for both club and country on either side of Zimbabwe’s Independence.

Born in Harare, Majid attended school in the coloured community of Arcadia and distinguished himself as a hard tackling defender.

He was the kind of one club player who endeared himself to many by loyalty to Arcadia FC and Zimbabwean fans with his no-nonsense approach to the game.

He was a pillar at the centre of the club’s defence from the 1970s well into the 1980s.

It worth noting that on and before the 1980 independence celebrations, Majid was rated among the top defenders in the country.

Before independence Majid, elder brothers to former Arcadia, Black Rhinos, Dynamos and Zimbabwe midfield star Hamid, competed for recognition with the likes of Shaw Handriade, Amos Rendo, Shadreck Ngwenya, Emmanuel Sibanda, Lucky Rufani, Daniel Chikanda, Sunday Chidzambwa and Stephen Chuma.

He had a great work ethic and won many admirers because of his game that was modelled alongside the British style, where sheer brute characterised defending with centrebacks was expected to be hard on the tackle.

It was either he missed the ball and got the man and where possible get both and many strikers of his era, always knew that he would go at them with great force and leave them with knocks to the ankle and shin.

Majid was so good that he debuted for the Warriors in 1980 against Cameroon in 1980 before several other senior national team call ups.

He was considered for national duty by John Rugg at a time when Zimbabwe had Ephraim Moloi, Sunday Chidzambwa, Ephert Lunga, Charles Sibanda, Stephen Chuma and Misheck Chidzamba all in the reckoning while at club level he provided good cover to Nat Bismark and Mike Mhlanga alongside Reg Payne, Doorman Moodley, Joey Antipas and Carlos Max.