WHY KHAMA IS NUMERO UNO

2312-1-1-DECEMBER 24 BACK PAGE

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor—

KHAMA BILLIAT kept alive his chances of making history as the first Zimbabwean footballer to be honoured as the best among those plying their trade on the continent by making the final shortlist of the three who will vie for the prestigious award.The Confederation of African Football eliminated Billiat’s Mamelodi Sundowns teammates — Keegan Dolly and Hlompo Kekana — from the race on Thursday when they revealed the final three-man shortlist for the January 5 awards ceremony.

Billiat will battle his remaining Sundowns teammate, goalkeeper Dennis Onyango, and Zambian captain Rainford Kalaba for the honour of being selected as the best footballer playing in Africa this year.Kalaba topped the scoring charts for Congolese giants TP Mazembe as they won the CAF Confederation Cup this year.

But Zambia’s failure in their bid to qualify for the 2017 Nations Cup finals, with Kalaba failing to provide the leadership role as they were beaten to the ticket by outsiders Guinea Bissau, is likely to count against him.

Onyango was inspirational between the posts as he helped Sundowns win the CAF Champions League this year and also helped Uganda qualify for their first Nations Cup finals since 1978.

Billiat topped the scoring charts for Sundowns with three goals, as the Brazilians were crowned African champions for the first time in their history, while crucially, he also played a starring role as the Warriors ended 10 years of waiting for a place at the Nation’s Cup finals.

The race, it appears, is just a shoot out between Billiat and Onyango, with the Ugandan having the sentimental advantage derived from his role of helping Uganda qualify for the Nations Cup finals for the first time in 39 years.

East African football has been in decline and that Uganda qualified for the Nation’s Cup finals is being celebrated as a milestone and Onyango’s contribution towards that cause could reap him huge rewards. But rewarding Onyango ahead of Billiat will be an insult to this award.

After all, Billiat beat his teammate to the South African Footballer of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and the award for the best player in that league voted for by the fans, the Kick Off Footballer of the Season.

The Zimbabwean was the talisman in the Sundowns team, the one whose X-Factor always made the difference between success and failure both at home and on the continent.

When he wasn’t scoring priceless goals against the likes of Zamalek, he was providing assists for his teammates and, compared to the ‘keeper, his role wasn’t just one dimensional.

Onyango’s role was to stop the opposition from scoring, something which he usually did, but that is where his story starts and ends.

Crucially, Sundowns, in their fairytale campaign, never played a game where the outstanding player was their ‘keeper, the one whose influence made the difference between winning and losing. That the first line of their strong defensive shield, Kekana, made the shortlist of five players for the CAF award was testimony of the strength of their defensive unit of which Onyango was a part of. But it was their attacking unit that was sensational, scoring in virtually every game they played on the continent, culminating in that super show in the first leg of their showdown against Zamalek in the final, which they won 3-0 in Pretoria.

But that campaign would not even have gone past the first hurdle had it not been for Billiat’s influence. With the Zimbabwean injured in the first leg of the preliminary round qualifier against Chicken Inn at Barbourfields, Sundowns crashed to a 0-1 defeat to the Gamecocks.

But with Billiat being fast-tracked back into action, though not fully fit, for the second leg, the Zimbabwean made the huge difference in the 2-0 victory over Chicken Inn.

The diminutive forward swung the ball for the equaliser, his curling effort deceiving the Gamecocks’ defence before being headed home at the back post.

And with the game staggering towards the end, and a possibility of a penalty shootout, Billiat found a pocket of space down the middle and headed for the kill.

As he entered the penalty area, he was clipped from behind and the referee pointed to the spot, with Katlego Mashego converting for the winning goal and a ticket into the next round.

He would then go on to score three goals, including the priceless away goal, in the semi-final against Zesco United in Ndola, which gave Sundowns a window of hope which they utilised as they scored twice in the return leg in Pretoria to book a place in the final.

And Billiat was also the leading man as the Warriors ended 10 years of waiting for a place at the Nation’s Cup finals.

He scored three goals for the Warriors in that campaign, his three strikes equalling Musona’s tally, but his goals came at very crucial intervals.

The first secured a precious win in Malawi, with the three points harvested in Blantyre finally making the difference in the group, firing from an angle to deceive the ‘keeper with a looping ball that had appeared to be a cross.

Having been virtually unplayable in that second half, in which he constantly outwitted his marker with a combination of a devastating sudden burst of pace and dribbling wizardry, Billiat was duly rewarded with the goal that made all the difference in Blantyre.

Then, when Callisto Pasuwa rested him for the first half of the return game against Swaziland in Harare, the Warriors struggled to impose themselves and couldn’t break the Sihlangu defensive shield. With the score goalless, and the first signs of discontent emerging in the stands among their fans, Billiat was thrown in at the beginning of the second half and, just like that, everything changed.

He created the second goal, which was headed home by Costa Nhamoinesu and then fired home from inside the box to help overturn a goalless first half into a 4-0 mauling.

Those contributions clearly make him the numero uno.

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