MSU’s Farai Mutatu wants to help his dream school do something special

Farai Mutatu made an instant impact when he arrived on campus at Michigan State. When it came to becoming a Spartan for his NCAA journey, the choice wasn’t a difficult one. “I grew up in East Lansing watching MSU soccer games as a kid, so it has always been a dream of mine to play here,” Mutatu told BGN. “My family loves the school and it’s close to home, so it was an easy decision for us.”

Mutatu scored three goals and added three assists as a freshman in 2018, earning him Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors. The talented forward followed that up with two goals and two assists as a sophomore in 2019. Mutatu told BGN, “I have learned a lot from my first two years in this program, I’ve been blessed to learn from previous teammates and great coaching staff, so I feel like I am getting better individually but also as a leader for the team.”

Then, COVID-19 caused a lengthy delay from the end of that 2019 season to the start of this 2021 campaign. “After not playing in 2020, our team is hungry to play, and we have put in a lot of work to prepare for this season,” Farai explained. “Things are not easy for everyone, but we are straining to make the best of the situation we are in.”

Mutatu has one goal this season, a game-winner vs. Northwestern, and seven total shots on target.

👀 The firecracker from @FaraiMutatu! pic.twitter.com/mkstrxbsSc

— MSU Men's Soccer (@MSUmsoccer) March 11, 2021

Before he was a kid in Michigan watching MSU matches, Mutatu grew up in Zimbabwe. He moved to the United States when he was six years old and looks forward to going back to the country in southern Africa to visit his old family.

Despite not having had a chance to get back to Zimbabwe since he left, Farai has been able to represent the country’s U-23 national team. “I was very honored to be called up for the u23 Zimbabwe national team in 2018 during my freshmen year and so it is a dream of mine to play for the senior team one day,” he said.

Looking back on the early stages of his soccer journey, Farai didn’t have to look very far to find role models in the sport. “My favorite players to watch growing up were first my older brothers, watching them play inspired me to be the player I am,” he said. His brothers, Trinity and Ranfariro, both played collegiate soccer.

“But my favorite pro players were Lionel Messi, Eden Hazard, and Thierry Henry and so many others but those are the ones I wanted to play like,” he added.

Now with a style of his own, Mutatu will try to help 6-seed Michigan State upset rival, 3-seed Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament this weekend. In the two regular season meetings, the Spartans played them close, losing 1-0 on the road and dropping an overtime 2-1 result in East Lansing. Subscribers can watch the match live here on BTN+ with kickoff scheduled for 1 PM ET on Saturday.

Farai said, “I will need to be the best I can be, day in and day out to help the team because we have a group that can do something special this year.”