Blessing Makunike

Blessing Makunike
Personal information
Full name	Blessing Makunike
Date of birth	24 January 1977
Place of birth	Salisbury, Rhodesia
Date of death	13 March 2004 (aged 27)
Place of death	Harare, Zimbabwe
Playing position	Central Defender
Senior career*
National team
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Blessing "YoGo-Yogo" Makunike (24 January 1977 – 13 March 2004) was a Zimbabwean international football player.

Club career

Blessing Makunike started his career in 1997 with Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League club CAPS United F.C., where he played until the end of the 2002 season. Together with his teammate, Leonard Tsipa, he then spent half a season with Serbian club FK Javor, where international Zimbabwean footballer Mike Temwanjera, together with other African players, helped them incorporate into the squad. However, he and Leonard went back to CAPS in the next summer, playing in the second semester of the 2003 Zimbabwean football season.

Car accident

On 13 March 2004, Blessing, together with two other players, Shingirai Alron and Gary Mashoko, and two supporters, burned to death when their car hit the pillar of the bridge and caught fire, the greatest loss of lives in a single incident in Zimbabwean football.^[1]

Honours

CAPS United

Zimbabwe Premier League (1): 2004
Zimbabwe Cup (3): 1997, 1998, 2004
Independence Trophy (1): 1997

International career

From 1998 to 2001 he played eight matches for the Zimbabwe national football team having scored one goal.

References

↑ CAPS players laid to rest

External sources

Blessing Makunike – FIFA competition record (archive)
Blessing Makunike at National-Football-Teams.com
"Team profile in Geocities". Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
Blessing Makunike at Srbijafudbal.

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[1] CAPS players laid to rest