Musona scores in Germany

international responded by scoring his first goal for the Bundesliga outfit to help them beat FC Cologne in a German Cup second round encounter at the Rhein-Neckar Arena on Tuesday night.
Musona – who since his arrival at Hoffenheim has had to contend with making substitute appearances, often coming on in the last 25 minutes of each game – fired home the winner five minutes into the second half to give his side a 2-1 win.

According to reports from Germany, the Warriors hitman struck after Nigerian Chinedu Obasi had cancelled out Mato Jajalo’s opener for FC Cologne in the first half.
The Hoffenheim against FC Cologne encounter was the only clash of Bundesliga clubs in the second round of the German Cup.
Until Tuesday night when he was handed his first start the former Kaizer Chiefs striker and reigning South African Premiership top scorer’s five previous appearances for Hoffenheim had been from the bench.

Musona had a delayed start to life at Hoffenheim after sustaining a hamstring injury in his first full training session with his new club. That injury meant that Musona missed the first four League games of the season as well as the Warriors’ penultimate 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia at the National Sports Stadium on September 4.
But soon after being certified fit again, Musona was an unused substitute when he was included in the Hoffenheim team for the first time in what was also his club’s fifth league assignment, which ended with a 4-0 triumph over Mainz 05 on September 10.

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Since that game, the 21-year-old striker has featured in all the five league games that the club has played prior to Tuesday night – all as a substitute.
But with his performance on Tuesday night Musona is now expected to get his first start in a Bundesliga game, which would be a big boost for the striker who has made no secret of his intentions of making an early impact in Germany.

Hoffenheim are in mid-table with a third of the season gone in the league.
Musona, however, told The Herald earlier this month that he had fully recovered from the injury that forced him into a false start in Germany with the former Aces Youth Academy striker setting himself a tough benchmark in the Bundesliga.

The Warriors international said he was eager to quickly settle down at Hoffenheim and become a regular at the club, revealing that he was hopeful he would be in the starting line-up by the time the Bundesliga programme reaches its half way stage.
Although acknowledging that the German game is much tougher and much more tactical, Musona said he wanted to do better than his debut year in South Africa in which he had a slow start and really became a hit in only his second season at Kaizer Chiefs.

“I have fully recovered from the injury that I suffered soon after arriving in Germany. In the first game I was on the bench for 90 minutes and then started coming from the bench mostly in the last 25 minutes. I know that it’s not enough but I am not panicking yet because this is my first year in Europe.
“I did the same in South Africa where for the whole of my first season I was a substitute but became a regular at Kaizer Chiefs the following season.

“I want to work extra hard so that I play regularly in the Bundesliga . . . my confidence is growing with each game and I am looking forward to more game time.
“I don’t want to spend the whole season to settle down, I have set myself a target to be a regular by the time we reach the halfway stage of this season,” Musona said.

On Tuesday night Musona took a giant step towards that big dream after making a big statement of his scoring pedigree by breaking his goal duck and leading Hoffenheim into the next round of the German Cup.
He had on Saturday night also come on as a substitute in the last 22 minutes when Hoffenheim chalked up a 1-0 home triumph over Borussia Monchengladbach in a Bundesliga game.

Hoffenheim will now travel to seasoned campaigners Schalke 04 in their next Bundesliga game at the Veltins Arena on Saturday and Musona will be hoping to get his first league start despite the assignment being a tough one for his team.