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hailed by Fifa as one of the brightest African football stars, who have exploded on the world stage in the past year, and are now tipped for superstardom.
The 21-year-old Zimbabwe hotshot has made the Fifa All-Star XI of the new crop of the continent’s best footballers touted by the world football governing body to produce the stars who will scale the same heights as Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o and Michael Essien.
Fifa believe these players have not only distinguished themselves in the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers but are likely to even shine brighter when the journey for the 2014 World Cup finals begins.
Musona has scored half of the Warriors’ tally of six goals in the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers and was unavailable for selection, due to injury, when the national team fell to their only defeat in the current campaign away to Mali in Bamako.
He then scored twice, when Mali came to Harare, in an impressive 2-1 win for the Warriors that pushed them back into contention for the automatic qualifying ticket for the showcase in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Although Musona missed the Warriors’ tie against Liberia at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, Zimbabwe still had too much firepower for the West Africans as they eased to a comfortable 3-0 win, which could easily have doubled had the Warriors taken their chances.
Fifa believe there are winds of change sweeping across African football with Botswana, who until now had never qualified for the Nations Cup finals, becoming the first nation on the continent to book its place in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
That Botswana beat Tunisia home and away, and little Malawi are also unbeaten in that group, which also features 2006 World Cup finalists Togo, appear to confirm the power shifts taking place in the African game.
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Mighty Egypt, winners of the last three Nations Cup finals, have already been eliminated from the qualifying campaign for the 2012 showcase while Cameroon are battling just to stay alive.
Musona has been thrust into an exclusive group of African players, who have caught the eye in the past year, which also includes rising South African star Thulani Serero.
The 21-year-old forward, who was voted the South African Player of the Year in the past season after a close duel with Musona, has already been signed by Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam.
Botswana, who have provided the refreshing rhythm of the 2012 Nations Cup qualifying campaign,have midfielder Mogogi Gabonamong among the XI African players hailed by Fifa for making a difference, with their performance on the field, in the past year.
Other players picked by Fifa include Moussa Sow, the Senegalese hotshot who fired the Lions of Teranga into the 2012 Nations Cup finals and top-scored in France last season as Lille won the league title and rising Ghanaian midfielder Jordan Ayew who has stepped out of the shadow of his elder brother Andre.
Cheikh Diabate, whose goals have oiled Mali’s Nations Cup campaign, and rising Inter Milan and Nigerian playmaker Joel Obi, have also been included in the list of players.
“It will be a busy next six months for African football, particularly given the intensity of the final round of qualifiers for next year’s Caf African Cup of Nations and the excitement of a new Fifa World Cup preliminary campaign,” the world football governing body said on its official website yesterday.
“In October, the last 10 places in the 16-team field for the continental championship, co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, will be seized, while the following month, the road to Brazil 2014 commences.
“Big events bring change, and the established order is under threat, with Egypt already out of the running for the African finals and new heroes emerging across the continent.
“Fifa looks at some of the enchanting players who have come to the fore during 2012 qualifying and could emulate the likes of Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o and Michael Essien on the path to Brazil 2014.”
The world football governing body praised Musona as a player full of speed and skill.
“Another 21-year-old attacker, Musona is full of speed and skill and it comes as no great shock that he has moved to one of world football’s top leagues, with Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga after two prolific years in South Africa,” said Fifa on its website.
“He scored three vital goals for his country in the Nations Cup qualifiers – including a brace and the 90th-minute winner in Zimbabwe’s most impressive victory, a 2-1 reverse of Mali.”
Yesterday, Warriors coach Norman Mapeza said Musona was a very talented footballer who had the capacity to rise into one of Africa’s finest players in the next few years.
“He is a great professional, a dedicated footballer who is disciplined and wants to learn more all the time,” said Mapeza.
“I don’t have any doubts that he will rise to become one of the best players in Africa in the coming years. We need to give him time to adjust to his new environment in Germany and, once he does that, he should be able to express himself freely.
“I think Knowledge has made a huge impact and when you do very well in South Africa, with all the exposure that comes with SuperSport, it’s easy for the world to start noticing your talent and it has worked well for him.
“I’m happy for him and I believe that we have a lot of football talent in this country and if we can qualify for the next Nations Cup finals, we can get a good platform to show the world that we have individuals who are very talented.”
Mapeza said he was being humbled by the recognition that was now being given to Zimbabwean players.
“Method, our national captain, is now the captain of Mamelodi Sundowns and Khama (Billiart) is now the main player at Ajax Cape Town after the departure of Serero and that all shows we are doing something right as a nation,” said Mapeza.
“The challenge for us coaches is to keep working harder to identify and develop the players.”
Fifa’s Emerging African Stars
| Mogogi Gabonamong | Botswana |
| Delvin Ndinga | Congo |
| Wilfried Bony | Cote d’Ivoire |
| Jordan Ayew | Ghana |
| Cheikh Diabate | Mali |
| Youseff Al Arabi | Morocco |
| Moussa Maazou | Niger |
| Joel Obi | Nigeria |
| Moussa Sow | Senegal |
| Thulani Serero | South Africa |
| KNOWLEDGE MUSONA | ZIMBABWE |
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