Chronicle Editor
Stanford Chiwanga, [email protected]
MICHAEL Nees, the Zimbabwe senior national team coach, has been on the phone trying to persuade Knowledge Musona to come out of retirement for one last dance with the Warriors.
However, another Musona answered his call with a brace on Monday in South Africa at the Orlando Stadium.
For a few years now, Walter Musona has been flattering to deceive in Warriors colours. For 90 minutes on a Monday night, he finally announced himself to the world. It’s as if he took offence to Nees’ overtures to his brother, Knowledge. It’s as if Knowledge turned a deaf ear to the German because he knew that his younger brother would come of age and fill his big boots. It’s as if he refused to come home because he knew that a new king had been born to put an end to pretenders who dared think they could sit on his throne.
The first goal was a thing of beauty. A miskick, some said. But it was actually deliberate. It was a volley. Not a usual volley, no. He hit it with his right foot. Actually, he put his laces through it. Actually he didn’t. It was not a searing shot. It was more like a chip with a dash of wickedness and finesse all rolled into one. It didn’t arrow its way to the back of the net. It hung in the air for a while like a balloon that has escaped the clutches of a child playing in a windy, lush green park.
The Namibian goalkeeper saw the flight of the ball, which was moving in slow motion. He didn’t watch it soar over him, no. He tried to stop it from hitting the back of the net. But he was no match for the trickery of the shot. He dived, but he dived in vain. In fact, he was not the only one who was fooled by the shot. Everyone thought the shot harmless.
Only Walter knew the shot’s destiny. He wheeled away in celebration before the ball had even nestled in the net. The fans in the stadium and those watching on TV must have thought that he had lost his mind. His teammates and the coaching staff must have wondered why he was running away from goal.
They all realised that Walter still had his faculties in place when the ball rested in the back of the net. Doubt turned into disbelief and elation. The shot which was not a shot was a shot. The chip which was not a chip was a chip. The volley which was not a volley was a volley.
Before the goal, the Warriors looked unsettled. They looked clueless. They looked like they were devoid of confidence. They looked like a bunch of players that had not trained together. Namibia, despite losing the Thursday match to the same Warriors, were more determined. They attacked with belief. They clearly thought they had a chance. Walter’s goal changed all that.
Suddenly, the Warriors played like the Warriors of old with Jordan Zemura unplayable. It was not surprising that he created the second goal. His goal-bound shot hit a Namibian player’s hand and the referee had no choice but to point to the spot. Up stepped Walter. Unlike Khama Billiat, whose Thursday penalty was almost saved by the Namibian goalkeeper, Walter hit his penalty with conviction. The goalkeeper went the right way, but the shot was too venomous for him to handle.
It was a job well done for Walter. But Zemura was not done. He came back to haunt Namibia one last time. His cross from a counter-attacking move settled on the right boot of Prince Dube. The former Highlanders’ striker had all the time in the world to stop dead the perfect ball before he coolly slotted it home.
For a long time, Prince has failed to turn it on for the Warriors due to injuries and a lack of trust by a succession of former national team coaches. Even the fans were beginning to doubt him. Here was a player who was scoring for fun in Tanzania but not for his nation. He was a player once touted as Peter Ndlovu’s heir, failing where many pretenders failed. But on Monday, he repaid Nees’ faith in him. He refused to be called a flop with a beautiful goal. It won’t win the Goal of the Year award, but its beauty lay in the way he took it.
He was unfazed. He took his time. He put it past the Namibian goalkeeper and a defender who had combined to stop him. His celebration was of a man who had just had a burden lifted off his back. Relief more than delight. But that’s not the reason the goal is classified as beautiful. It was a beautiful goal because it deflated Namibia.
They might have scored a late consolation, but the match was done. It wasn’t 2-1. A 2-1 lead could have given the opposition a chance and belief. A 2-1 lead could have resulted in a squeaky bum time. It was 3-1. Namibia, like a dying horse, had one kick in them. A goal scored in vain. It won’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Why? Because a draw against Kenya will take the Warriors to the Africa Cup of Nations. — @plainstan
Online Reporter