Online Reporter
MARSHALL Munetsi made his debut for Wolverhampton on Sunday in the oldest and most prestigious knockout football tournament in the world.
Just a few days after arriving at his new base in England, the Warriors vice-captain was pushed into the heart of the battle when Wolves took on Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
He came on as a 65th minute substitute while Wolves were enjoying a 2-0 lead over plucky Championship side Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
Munetsi’s next battle in the Wolves colours will be at Anfield when they take on Liverpool in a league match on Sunday.
The Zimbabwean star is being praised for his impressive performance in his first match for Wolves where he turned on a largely flawless show after he was drafted into a more advanced role than he usually plays in midfield.
Munetsi caught the eye with his powerful runs into the penalty area and he even had the perfect chance to open his account, just minutes after coming in, when he got to the end of a ball swung in from the left but he failed to get the right connection with a yawning goal in front of him.
Three minutes earlier, he had pickpocketed possession, in typical Munetsi style, bullying his opponent and taking control of the ball and then provided the pass of the game, pushed into the spaces down the right channel and invited his teammate to have a run at the Blackburn defence.
It’s still early days yet and there will be tougher opponents for Munetsi and his Wolves teammates compared to Blackburn Rovers.
One of those tough opponents is on the corner when Wolves will travel to Anfield for a date against championship-favourites Liverpool on Sunday.
If Munetsi can impress in that showdown against the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, a World Cup winner, then he would have started his life in the English Premiership in the best possible fashion.
We have always said that in this country we are blessed when it comes to producing football players.
It’s something that runs within our genes as Zimbabweans and that is why we created history as the first African country to produce the first footballer to play in the English Premiership when Peter Ndlovu was featured in the Coventry City team in August 1992.
Just after Munetsi’s team had beaten Blackburn Rovers, we saw another Zimbabwean footballer Trey Nyoni playing for Liverpool in their FA Cup game against Plymouth Argyle, who also have another Zimbabwean footballer, Brendan Galloway, on their books.
What we have been lacking all along is the right administration to ensure that our footballers punch according to their weight.
Hopefully, the coming in of Nqobile Magwizi and his team at ZIFA will ensure that we have that administration which can help our players compete and even win on the international arena.
We have quality players and it felt good on Sunday watching Munetsi turn out that impressive performance.
Mathew Masinge