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Robson Sharuko:Senior Sports Editor

FOR Zimbabwe talisman Knowledge Musona — the man whose form will be crucial in the Warriors’ cause at the Nations CAup showcase in Gabon — life in the fast lane of international football will come full circle when he plunges into the qualifying battles for the 2019 AFCON finals in June this year.The 26-year-old Belgium-based forward has established himself as the Warriors’ all-weather kingpin since announcing his arrival, on the big stage of the Nations Cup, by scoring his first goal for his country’s senior national football team on September 5, 2010, in Monrovia, against the Lone Stars of Liberia.

And the KV Oostende striker, who needs to explode for the Warriors to make a huge impression in Gabon where they get their campaign underway tomorrow against Algeria, will see his international career coming full circle in June when Zimbabwe begin a quest for a place at the 2019 AFCON finals with a home date against Liberia.

Time, indeed, flies.

It’s hard to believe seven years have passed since Musona introduced himself to the Warriors’ fans with a goal at the SKD Sports Complex in Monrovia by pushing Zimbabwe into the lead in their 2012 Nations Cup opener before the Liberians rallied to force a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw.

That goal marked the arrival of a hitman who would, in time, transform himself into the Warriors’ golden boy, the leader of their attack, the man the team usually turns to for goals.

The one who takes their penalties, blessed with nerves of steel he can even perform a “panenka” at home, with the match still goalless and the crowd on the verge of exploding from a toxic combination of impatience and frustration.

Along the way, Khama Billiat — who enjoyed a breakthrough season last year to such an extent he even made the team among Africa’s finest XI players chosen by CAF — emerged to help him share the burden of leading the Warriors’ attack, but Musona remains the main man for the senior national team.

Amid concerns Billiat’s impact in Gabon could be affected by the ravages of a long season which has seen him play non-stop football for 18 months, for club and country in major tournaments like the AFCON qualifiers, a successful CAF Champions League adventure, a flirtation with the CAF Confederation Cup and, of course, the FIFA Club World Cup, Musona’s form could be decisive for the Warriors on their return to the Nations Cup finals.

He scored three goals to help the Warriors book their ticket to Gabon, bringing his Nations Cup tally to nine goals, with the first having come that afternoon in Monrovia against the same Liberians who will — as was the case in the 2012 AFCON qualifiers — provide the first opposition for Zimbabwe in the battle for a place at the 2019 AFCON finals in Cameroon.

Musona has now scored 15 goals for the Warriors, with two coming in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, while four have come in friendly internationals.

The immediate mission, though, for Musona and his Warriors is to deal with the 2017 Nations Cup business, in a very tough group that also includes Africa’s number one ranked country Senegal and the plucky Tunisians, in Gabon where the immortality of becoming the first group from this country to make it into the knockout stages beckons.

Just like the pioneers of 2004, led by the greatest Warrior of all-time Peter Ndlovu, the Class of 2017 is made up of only rookies who are making their maiden appearance at this stage of football on the continent.

They are led by the only skipper in Gabon plying his trade on the continent and a coach who is the only gaffer at this showcase without the experience of having worked in Europe.

But, in a game that was shaken to its very foundations by Riyad Mahrez and his colleagues at Leicester City, as they defied 5000-1 odds to become champions of England last year, dreams are now known to come true.

And, by coincidence, Mahrez is the man the Warriors will battle in the first game of their Gabonese adventure as he represents his Algerian homeland.

Interestingly, a number of seasoned African football analysts and commentators have been suggesting Musona and his teammates could write the Cinderella tale of this Nations Cup finals.

And that Zambia somehow emerged from being rank outsiders to transform themselves into winners, the last time the AFCON roadshow came to Gabon, provide an ironic, if not fascinating, link to all this.

The absence of midfielder Marvelous Nakamba, unavailable for tomorrow’s showdown against Algeria because of suspension, is a massive blow for the Warriors.

But, if there is a team that owes its presence in Gabon to teamwork than just the influence of one dominant superstar who made it all possible, then it has to be Pasuwa’s men.

Yesterday, their kit partners, Mafro, unveiled the kit which the Warriors will use in Gabon with the firm rallying everyone in their stable to back Pasuwa and his troops.

“We are proud to be associated with the WARRIORS for this continental clash of Africa’s finest footballing nations and our best wishes to the nation of Zimbabwe at AFCON 17,” the company said.

“Rise up Zimbabwe!

“To all our members please join us to wish best of luck to the Warriors for the upcoming AFCON. The only Southern African country in this year’s AFCON, that says a lot.”

Of course, it does.

For Musona, who struggled to make an impression in Germany before exploding in Belgium, Gabon presents another opportunity to show the world he has the quality to play in the best leagues in Europe and having scored, repeatedly, for his country’s cause since bursting on the scene in 2010 without due reward, this is his big chance.

And, when the Gabonese adventure is over, hopefully after the Warriors have shaken African football to the core, he only has five months of rest, from international duty, before he returns to serve his nation, yet again, as another Nations Cup campaign gets underway at home against a team he faced at the very beginning seven years ago — Liberia.

The Warriors will also play the DRC and Congo-Brazzaville in that tricky campaign. But that can wait for another time, another stage and another chapter in Musona’s remarkable international career. The good thing, for Zimbabwe’s football fans, is that as time passes by, Knowledge comes along.