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Knowledge Musona

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports reporter
NEW Warriors skipper Knowledge Musona is aiming for a perfect take-off as the captain when they host Liberia in the opening match of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations against Liberia at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow. Musona, who was handed the responsibility during the week, yesterday said he was eagerly waiting for his chance to fill in the big shoes that were once worn by great Zimbabwean players like Peter Ndlovu, Ephraim Chawanda, Tinashe Nengomasha and Benjani Mwaruwari.

Naturally, the responsibility comes with added pressure.

Musona is pumped up following success with his European club KV Oostende, who recently booked their place to play in the Europa League next year.

“There is no pressure at all. I’ll just play football the same way I was doing before.

“You know, it’s very easy to play football if you play simple.

“So we are going to play as a team. If we work hard and give 100 percent I’m sure we will be able to get a positive result,” said Musona.

Zimbabwe, who were part of the elite nations at the last AFCON finals in Gabon, are looking forward to another fruitful campaign in search of another ticket to the big stage in Cameroon in two years’ time.

They are in Group G that also includes giants Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo-Brazzaville.

The Congolese neighbours will clash in the first group match in Kinshasa today.

And, with the qualifiers set to resume next year, Musona believes Zimbabwe have to start on a good footing as they have two consecutive away matches against the Congolese teams in March and September of 2018.

His immediate focus, though, is on winning the first match tomorrow.

“I think everything is good so far and we are looking forward to Sunday.

“Definitely (we will be going for goals) because if you want to win three points at the end of the 90 minutes you need to score goals and defend also.

“So we will try our best to attack. I am sure the crowd will be rallying behind us. Our energy will be very much high.

“It’s all about the three points. I don’t care about how many goals we are going to score. As long as we take three points, that’s the most important thing because you need maximum points in the first game.

“You don’t have to think about past results, we just have to focus on this one and win it at all costs,” said Musona.

He scored his debut goal for the Warriors against Liberia back in 2010.

The 26-year old forward also lamented the absence of his friend Khama Billiat, who has been ruled out because of injury.

The two former Aces Academy players were the key players in the previous campaign when Zimbabwe posted their best run in the qualifiers and secured their slot for the 2017 tournament in Gabon with a game to spare.

“We know he (Billiat) is a very good player who helped us in the last campaign.

“He is a very important team player. We will really miss him because he scores for us and he creates goals for us.

“But I am sure with the quality that we have at the moment, we will try to play as a team and replace him so that we don’t really miss him too much.

“It’s unfortunate that he is injured, but I’m hoping that he will start playing soon,” said Musona.