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Paul Mundandi Sports Reporter —
SEASONED striker Cuthbert Malajila may have gained experience playing continental football for club and country, but the Bidvest Wits forward believes an appearance at the African Cup of Nations will be the highest point of his career.

Malajila has been included in the 31-man provisional squad for the biennial tournament which kicks off in Libreville on January 14 and will end in the same city on February 5.

The widely-travelled striker has played for Chapungu, Highlanders and Dynamos on the domestic front as well as Libyan outfit Al Akdar, Tunisia’s Club Africain and South African Premiership sides Martizburg United and current champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

He made 54 appearances for Sundowns and scored 20 goals for them.

The bustling striker is now hoping to make the cut when coach Callisto Pasuwa names his final 23 for the Gabon trip early into the New Year.

Malajila played at the inaugural African Nations Championships in Cote d’Ivoire in 2009, with Sunday Chidzambwa as coach and also featured for the senior team in the COSAFA Cup and different World Cup and African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The 31-year-old forward has played in the Champions League and Confederation Cup for Dynamos and Sundowns over the years.

In fact, Malajila could have made history alongside Khama Billiat by playing at the FIFA Club World Cup but he was offloaded by the Brazilians just before they began the Champions League group stage, having featured in the earlier rounds of the competition.

Now after settling down at Bidvest Wits, where he is getting regular playing time under Gavin Hunt, Malajila has set his sights on playing a role for the Warriors, who will be in a tough Group B that has former champions Tunisia and Algeria and heavyweights Senegal and “feels nothing beats the Nations Cup stage in terms of African football’’.

Malajila was a regular member of the squad that did duty in the Warriors’ qualification campaign and actually scored Zimbabwe’s first goal of that marathon, firing home a 23rd minute close range effort in the 2-1 win over Malawi in Blantyre.

Interestingly, Malajalia’s two goals for the Warriors in the qualifiers both came against Malawi with the Bidvest Wits man heading home the third goal in the 3-0 thrashing of the Flames at the National Sports Stadium on June 3.

That victory sealed Zimbabwe’s place at the Nations Cup with a game to spare.

At 31, Malajila is set to make his Nations Cup debut and in what could also be his last appearance at the showpiece given the emergence of younger talent such as Swedish–based pair of Tino Kadowere and Mathew Rusike, Maritzburg United’s Evans Rusike and Walter Musona that still have age on their side for future competitions.

But for now, Malajila wants to use his experience in Gabon and revealed that as one of the senior players in the current squad, he was also taking time to offer advice to those younger players such as FC Platinum’s Marshall Mudehwe.

Malajila also backed his coach Pasuwa and urged the nation to believe that his class of Warriors could succeed at the tournament.

“We have to believe that we will go past the group stage and we have to believe that we can go all the way and lift the African Cup of Nations.

“Every member has believed since day one and that is the reason we even boarded the Munoruruma bus to go and play in Malawi.

“We knew that even if we did not fly, we would still go and bring a positive result.

“ It was that belief that saw us beating Malawi and it was the same belief that saw us qualifying for the finals in Gabon. We have everything, the players, the coach, the administration and the fans.

“We believe in Pasuwa, we respect him and every match that we play, we play for him because we believe in his tactics, which have seen us come all this far,’’ said Malajila.

Malajila, who scored his first Warriors goal in Gaborone against Botswana national side under Brazilian coach Valinhos, which Zimbabwe won 1-0 in an international friendly, will be hoping to come back from Gabon with more goals for his country.

He spoke about his desire to always share experiences with younger players in the squad and revealed that he partnered Knowledge Musona when the Belgian-based forward burst into the senior team.

“When we are at the hotel I talk to most of the players, especially the young players like Marshall (Mudehwe).

“The last time when fans whistled calling for his substitution when we played Swaziland at home, I talked to him and advised him to keep on believing after the match.

“He lacked the killer punch in that match but I managed to share with him, gave him advice and I believe he is now a better player. I consider everyone in the team important and we normally meet and everyone shares his experience so that we become one big and strong family

“I have the experience and I think it’s a very big advantage on my part which I am going to utilise at AFCON.

“We have been very consistent, something that has never happened and it was very good for the coach to keep faith in his players

“He never tempered with the team and each time he could only make one or two changes. I am bringing the experience in the team but it’s not about Malajila, it’s about teamwork and every member is very important,” said Malajila.

The Warriors vice-captain is battle-hardened, having gone through terrifying experiences in his playing career including the forgettable stint in Libya, which was cut short by civil unrest in the North African country in 2011.