Musona out of Mali tie

Musona for the crunch African Cup of Nations qualifier against Mali and has recalled forgotten striker Musa Mguni in his place.
Kaizer Chiefs hotshot Musona sustained a shoulder injury in his team’s South African Premiership tie against Free State Stars which ended 1-1 at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane last week.
The Warriors, still searching for their first win in this campaign, will travel to Bamako for their Group A clash against the Eagles on March 26.
There had been hopes that the 20-year-old striker, Chiefs leading goal scorer in the Absa Premiership campaign, would have recovered in time for the start of the Warriors camp on March 20.
But both Warriors manager Sharrif Mussa and Mapeza confirmed that Musona had now been ruled out of the crucial game in which Zimbabwe, with two points from as many games, need a result to stay in contention.
Musona has scored the only Warriors goal so far in this campaign, having struck in the brave 1-1 draw against Liberia in Libreville in September last year.
The Warriors’ second assignment fizzled into a 0-0 draw at the National Sports Stadium against surprise Group A leaders Cape Verde.
Cape Verde top the standings with four points, Mali are second with three, the Warriors third (with two) while Liberia’s Lone Star anchor the standings with a single point.
Mussa said he had already contacted Mguni to inform him about the call-up.
“The coach (Mapeza) spoke to Musona and after expressing serious doubts that he would be 100 percent fit for the Mali game, he asked that we call up Mguni.
“I have been in touch with the player and I will continue to try and communicate with him about the camp although that has been very difficult,” Mussa said.
Former Motor Action striker Mguni has had an on-off relationship with the Warriors, often playing hide-and-seek with national call-ups.
Mguni last turned up for the Warriors camp in 2008 when he had been called up by former coach Valinhos.
But the lanky forward did not play under the Brazilian after it emerged that he agreed to turn up for camp while carrying an injury.
It was not immediately clear by late yesterday whether Mguni will not spurn the offer to play for the Warriors this time around.
Mapeza, in confirming Musona’s absence for the Mali game, also took time to reiterate the message that had been given by Mussa that his technical team had not closed the door on any of the players who were left out of the Battle of Bamako.
The former Monomotapa coach said inasmuch as he would have wanted Musona to travel to Bamako, the striker had indicated to him that he was still feeling pain in his shoulder after landing awkwardly from a tackle by Free State Stars Kennedy Mweene.
“I spoke to Knowledge and he said he was still in pain from the shoulder injury. He told me that he had tried to train but was struggling especially from 50-50 situations and the aerial tussles so you can see that he will not be 100 percent fit for the game against Mali and we should not risk him.
“We have since included Musa Mguni as a replacement,” Mapeza said.
Musona’s injury also means that the Amakhosi striker’s envisaged partnership with Nyasha Mushekwi which destroyed Mozambique in a 3-1 win for the Warriors in a friendly, would have to wait a little longer before it is tested on the big stage.
While the Warriors suffered the Musona blow, there was good news filtering in from England with left wing back Onismor Bhasera allaying fears that he could be out following a weekend injury while turning out for his English League One side Plymouth Argyle.
Bhasera was stretchered off during his side’s 2-0 defeat by Hartlepool, on Saturday amid genuine concerns that it might have been a recurrence of a knee injury that had until recently been troubling him.
But Mussa said he had received confirmation from both Bhasera and his club that the player was fit and would be available for the Warriors.
“I spoke to Onismor and he said it was nothing serious and his own club have also said he should be fit for their next assignment this week,” Mussa said.
Mapeza also gave a brief insight into his selection criteria for the Warriors side that will prepare for the massive showdown with Mali.
There has been criticism on the coach from some sectors for his decision to omit players such as Vusa Nyoni, Tafadzwa Rusike, Willard Katsande and Esrom Nyandoro for the Mali game.
Players like Oscar Machapa of Moroka Swallows in South Africa, and Cuthbert Malajila, who plies his trade in Libya, could also have been in the reckoning for selection for this encounter. But because of long periods of inactivity and irregular game time at their clubs they have not been selected. Because of other attributes that do not suit playing against Mali, who thrive on a physical game in the hot and humid conditions of Bamako, Mapeza and his assistant Joey Antipas had to overlook the likes of Rusike, Machapa, Nyandoro and Malajila for this Nations Cup assignment.
“It must always be understood that as a coach I pick a squad in terms of the game plan that we would be having and after also carefully assessing the nature of the opponents that we would be facing and seeing how best we can try and achieve a result.
“But it does not mean that when a player has been left out of a particular training camp he is completely out of the picture.
“I think out team manager Sharrif also explained that the door for the Warriors has not been closed for anybody. We can only work with a certain number of players for each game,” Mapeza said.
The Warriors are expected to leave for Mali at dawn on March 23 and Mapeza will be hoping that his dressing room does not suffer more casualties in the build up to the trip to Mali.
A number of Warriors internationals have varying club commitments this weekend with such players like Edward Sadomba of Sudan’s Al Hilal and the Dynamos pair of goalkeeper Washington Arubi plunging into Champions League action for their respective clubs.