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Khama Billiat

OSAKA. — Zimbabwe international forward Khama Billiat’s hopes of making a huge impact at this year’s FIFA Club World Cup will get underway on Sunday when Mamelodi Sundowns take on Japanese hosts Kashima Antlers of Japan in a quarter-final showdown.The Japanese side came from 0-1 down against Auckland City of New Zealand to win 2-1 at the Yokohama International Stadium in their play-off match yesterday.

Billiat has admitted that the FIFA Club World Cup and the 2017 African Nations Cup will provide the perfect platform to trigger his desired overseas move.

Having been the best player in the PSL last term and nominated for two prestigious CAF awards, talk of a move abroad has been topical when Billiat’s name is mentioned.

While on show at the Club World Cup in Japan and January’s Afcon finals in Gabon, Billiat knows a solid display at both tournaments could be crucial in determining his next move.

“I will like to look at it in that way,” he told KickOff.com.

“This is why I am saying I need to go to these tournaments in the best form.

I have already worked on certain areas that I think I am weak in because this is a lifetime opportunity which doesn’t come twice. You might get it once and if you don’t use it in doing your best, it will be a disadvantage to your career.

“I think everyone is looking forward to that, to just be on top of their game. Even myself, I just believe that every game is an opportunity, even those that we play locally, because you never know who is watching.

“If you are on top of your game, some people might get interested in you, but yes, it is a bigger tournament and bigger opportunity for us to really bring our best form and see what will happen afterwards.”

KickOff.com has been told that Downs will only be guided by official offers that land on their table for the services of Billiat instead of falling for speculative talk.

Word reaching this website is that Sundowns are open to offers, but will also factor in what Billiat and his representative feel will be to the player’s best interests at this crucial peak stage of his career.

To date, enquiries have been made from several countries in Europe, Asia and North Africa, but that is just as far as it has gone, with Sundowns demanding that offers should be official and in writing for them to be considered.

The complex J1 League system is divided into two blocks of 17 games, with the winners of each block, along with the top combined points accumulator of the two stages, entering the play-offs.

Antlers — derived from the city name Kashima, meaning “deer island” — qualified for the play-offs by winning stage one, despite finishing a surprising 11th out of 18 teams in stage two.

They then beat top points accumulator Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 in the semi-finals, before emerging 2-2 aggregate winners (on away goals) over stage two victors Urawa Reds in the championship play-offs, thus being crowned 2016 J1 winners — their first league victory since 2009.

Antlers are still by far Japan’s most successful team, winning the league eight times, the J league Cup on six occasions and the domestic Emperor’s Cup four times.

Last year, they qualified for the Asian Champions League for the first time since 2011, but were knocked out in the group stages.

This will be their first-ever appearance at the Fifa Club World Cup.

Yesterday, after a goalless first half, City opened the scoring five minutes into the second period through South Korean defender Kim Daewook.

However, Antlers substitute Shuhei Akasaki, pulled his side level in the 67th minute, after having been on the pitch for just 13 minutes.

And there was a late winner for the Japanese side as another substitute, Mu Kanazaki, headed in from close range in the 88th minute to send his team into the quarter-finals. — Kick-Off.