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KHAMA BILLIAT has been one of our best footballers in the past decade during which he has represented his country with pride and distinction.
Together with captain Knowledge Musona, who has performed admirably, and consistently, for our Warriors, Billiat has been one of our two stand-out players, when it comes to national duty, in the last 10 years.
The pair top-scored for the Warriors, during the successful campaign for a place at the 2017 AFCON finals, in Gabon, where our boys were the only team, from Southern Africa, at the continental football showcase.
They scored six of our 11 goals, grabbing three goals apiece, as we — for the first time in our history — qualified for the Nations Cup finals as the top team in our group.
Many pundits had tipped Guinea, to top the group, but we showed that we had come of age, as we ended with a comfortable three-point advantage in the race for a place in Gabon.
Once we got there, Billiat showed his quality as he produced a man-of-the-match performance in our opening 2-2 draw against the Desert Foxes of Algeria.
His vintage performance caught the attention of former Bayern Munich and Ghana international defender, Samuel Kuffour, who was analysing the match on SuperSport TV.
“I think Billiat is one the best African talents I have seen in a long time,’’ Kuffour said.
“This guy can be on another level because he has everything. I think you have to move him to Europe.
“It would be very disappointing for Africa not to see him playing here. But, in terms of his career, and what he can do at 26 years, you have to move him to Europe.
“He is amazing to watch, for me, being a defender, it would be very difficult to play against this boy. He is small and you don’t know what he is going to do.
“He is so quick with the ball, he has everything, for me, I would love to see him go outside (overseas) for his future.”
Five years earlier, another football legend, who has won the UEFA Champions League before becoming a television pundit, Rio Ferdinand, came face-to-face against Billiat when Manchester United played Ajax Cape Town of South Africa in a pre-season match.
“There number 11 (Billiat) is their most exciting player for me,’’ Ferdinand said after the match.
“He is good when in possession, good ball control and can use his speed really well, overall, an exciting player.’’
There is no questioning the quality that Billiat has, as a footballer, he is a natural, and just four years ago, he scooped all the individual awards in the South African Premiership.
In the last Nations Cup qualifiers, he scored three goals, to help our Warriors qualify, for the second straight tournament, to the biggest football tournament on the continent.
Billiat grabbed the only goal which the Warriors scored, in a disappointing campaign, plagued by many off-the-field distractions, including frequent clashes between players, and ZIFA leaders, over unfulfilled promises.
Then, when the team faced the ignominy of being eliminated by Somalia, of all teams, in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, he produced a spectacular last-gasp winner, in a 3-1 victory, which gave us a ticket into the group stages.
In the Warriors’ last match, before Covid-19 brought football to a halt on the continent, Billiat again scored the winner in the 2-1 victory over Zambia, in Lusaka, in a Nations Cup qualifier last November.
However, after recently turning 30, our football poster boy is facing the first real challenge of his career.
Somehow, in the past few months, Billiat hasn’t appeared to be the same player who, in the last decade, has been one of the outstanding footballers to grace African football fields.
His first touch, which has always been a big weapon for him, appear to have deserted him, while his confidence, which gave him the push to take on defenders at will, beating them with ease, isn’t there anymore.
His last goal, for his South African Premiership side Kaizer Chiefs, last came in September last year which, for a player like him, is a sign that something is not right.
In the Amakhosi’s blockbuster battle against Mamelodi Sundowns on Thursday, Billiat was relegated to the bench, just days after he had been replaced, after just 45 minutes, in the league match against Stellenbosch.
And, when he was introduced in the second half, two days ago, he could not provide the spark which his team badly wanted and, when he was presented with the best chance to get an equaliser, he directed his header over the bar in the final minutes of the match.
It was a poor miss, but this has been a consistent line that has been running with his story, of late, and even some of his Chiefs fans have started to turn against him.
No one knows exactly what is happening to Billiat, his management team says he is fine, but we can all see that his is not the player that we have grown to see and, more importantly, to love. Some say form is temporary, and class is permanent, and we have seen other players, with a higher profile, endure such a miserable spell before fighting their way back.
That is what Billiat badly needs right now, he needs our support, because he is one of us and has served us well, and he also needs to confront his demons and find a solution.
We know he is too good a footballer to be playing this badly.
Online Reporter