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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
FORMER Zimbabwe Saints and national team soccer striker Shane Khamal has died. Khamal, who played for the Bulawayo-based former Premiership side, succumbed to cancer at the age of 48 in his adopted country of New Zealand at the weekend, according to his former teammate at Chauya Chikwata, Henry “Bully” McKop. Khamal played for Cosmos in the mid-1980s in Bulawayo before moving on to Zimbabwe Saints and he later represented Zimbabwe under Ghanaian coach Ben Koufie.

At Zimbabwe Saints, Khamal played under Roy Barreto and stayed there for a number of seasons before he hung up his boots in September 1990.
Khamal was part of the famous Class of 1988, coached by Baretto, which went on a 23-game unbeaten streak to capture the then Super League title in style.

In that year, they also won the Chibuku Trophy, an event they had last won in 1976 when inspired by Gibson Homela, they beat Bulawayo arch-rivals Highlanders in the final
They were also losing semi-finalists of CECAFA Club championships in 1988. They went on to play in the Caf Club Champions Cup in 1989 and were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Khamal, a robust striker, played alongside fellow talented players such as the late Joseph Machingura, goalkeepers John Sibanda and Pernell McKop, Misheck “Roadblock” Sibanda, Jimmy Phiri, Obey Sova, Ephraim “Rocky” Chawanda, Josephat “Mazhambe” Humbasha, Mayor Eric, Henry “Bully” McKop, George Ayibu, Chemmy Hunidzarira, Labani Ngoma, and the late Melusi Nkiwane.

After hanging up his boots in 1990, Khamal later decided to leave Zimbabwe and settled in Auckland, New Zealand, with his family.
He was diagonised of cancer a couple of years ago and finally succumbed to the disease at the weekend after a long, hard fight.

“It’s really sad news for us, especially some of us who played with Shane during our glory days at Zimbabwe Saints in the mid and late 1980s. He was more than a friend to (my brother) Pernell and I, he was like a brother. He was a gentle giant and a gentleman on and off the field,” Henry McKop said yesterday.

Henry McKop’s brother Pernell, who was a fine goalkeeper and fought for the number one jersey with John Sibanda in the title-winning Zimbabwe Saints side of 1988, was also shocked by Khamal’s untimely death at the weekend.

“Today I mourn the loss of my best friend Shane John Khamal but I celebrate his life, the memories we shared and the good times our family had.
“My most sincere and heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to the Khamal and Milner families for the loss of OUR GENTLE GIANT Shane John Khamal.
“He is a true Zimbabwe Saints legend,” Pernell McKop said.

Gibson Homela, who coached Khamal during his playing days at Zimbabwe Saints in the late 1980s, described him as a very disciplined and dedicated player “who could easily get the captain’s role at the team”.

“I’m deeply saddened to hear about the untimely death of Shane Khamal. What has really pained me is that a lot of these players like Shane are dying at a young age when we were looking forward to groom and nurture them to become the next generation of our national coaches.

“Shane Khamal was a very disciplined player. He was that type of a player who was so determined to get a positive result… He was just a responsible guy who you could easily give the captain’s role in the team,” Homela said