KING OF SCOTTLAND

Robson Sharuko

Metros Editor

WHEN Knowledge Musona was unveiled by Scottland at Rufaro on July 28, it marked the defining moment in the championship race.

It was the most expensive and biggest transfer deal in the history of the Castle Lager Premiership and, in that moment, the race for the title tilted in favour of the Scotts.

Alois Bunjira was even brave enough to say it publicly that he believed the arrival of Musona was going to power Scottland to their maiden league title.

“Scottland FC will win the 2015 league championship,” Bunjira posted on his Facebook page on the very day Knowledge was unveiled.

“I would have given it to FC Platinum but Knowledge Musona is the turning point.”

Bunjira was clever enough to put a disclaimer that this was just a prediction and not a prophecy.

It means that while his prediction that Knowledge was going to score at least ten goals, which was way off the mark, was not going to generate a lot of scrutiny.

Knowledge has scored two goals and Bunjira can argue that he can score eight in the remaining two games against Greenfuel and TelOne.

But, that is all beside the point.

What matters is that Bunjira got it right that the arrival of Knowledge would power Scottland to the championship.

And, this is exactly what has happened.

The former Warriors skipper has been the most influential player at the Scotts since his arrival and transformed himself into the natural captain even though the official role belongs to his brother Walter.

His reading of the game, his experience, his ability to cool down the pace when necessary, his intelligence and natural skills all combined to provide a soul to this Scottland side.

Without Knowledge, Scottland were a loose coalition of stars drawn from all over the place who were struggling to find the cohesion every football club needs to become a unit that can succeed.

With Knowledge in their midfield, Scottland had the soul they needed, the leader they had been looking for and, most importantly, the heartbeat of their machine.

His first game was against an FC Platinum side which was, until then, unbeaten in the championship race.

Knowledge was introduced in the 75th minute for his brother Walter at Mandava and by the end of the game Scottland had powered to a stunning 5-2 win.

In the nine league games which Knowledge has featured in, Scottland have won seven, drawn one and lost only one game – a 2-3 defeat at the hands of Dynamos in the Game of the Season at Rufaro.

Knowledge scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over MWOS, a decisive victory for Tonderai Ndiraya’s men against a club which was one of their main rivals for the title.

The goal was vintage Knowledge with the veteran forward squeezing the ball between the legs of a defender and, after finding himself with only the goalkeeper to beat, lifting it past him with conviction.

In the nine league games, which Scottland played before Knowledge’s arrival, the Mabvuku side won five matches, drew two and lost two.

The two losses were at Rufaro at the hands of CAPS United and TelOne.

That represented a 62,9 percent success rate and Scottland were struggling badly in the race.

Then, Knowledge came along.

And, seven wins in the last nine games, a draw and a loss have propelled them to the championship after an impressive 81,4 percent success rate.

That represents an 18,5 percent improvement before and after Knowledge’s arrival.

In contrast Simba Bhora, who were leading the race when Musona arrived, have picked just 13 of the 27 points in their last nine games.

MWOS have also picked 19 of the 27 points on offer in their past nine games.

If Knowledge had picked either Simba or MWOS, it’s very likely that either of these two sides would have won the title.