Young Warrior in mighty scare

Sports Reporter
Young Warriors midfielder, Praise Tonha, who caused anxious moments in the camp on Wednesday evening when he collapsed during the 2-1 Cosafa Youth Championship win over Swaziland, is now out of danger.
Tonha was knocked into unconsciousness after a collision with a Swazi player late in the second half and was taken to hospital after efforts to resuscitate him on the pitch failed.

However, the teenage Monomotapa player was released from hospital at around midnight on Wednesday after doctors managed to resuscitate him.

Yesterday, Tonha was given a day off by the team management when his teammates went for a light training session and a life skills seminar arranged for all teams by the organisers.

Reports on ZTV last night indicated that Tonha was now out of the tournament.
Speaking from Lesotho yesterday, Young Warriors team manager Patrick Mutesva thanked the medical staff for helping Tonha when he was clearly in grave danger.

“It was a serious situation but the good news is that he is now out of danger and is recovering well. Results from the CT scan were clear. He also had a scan on his spinal code and it looks like everything is okay,” said Mutesva.

“At first it was difficult to tell what the real problem was. But we suspected that he fell badly, head first, and the problem with head injuries is that you cannot immediately tell the extent or nature of injury.

“It was quite scary because he passed out completely. He couldn’t blink and efforts to resuscitate him on the pitch appeared like they were failing and he had to be taken to the hospital.

“Even after he had regained consciousness he could not remember what transpired or that he was playing football earlier. Many thanks to the medical personnel, we don’t know what could have happened if first aid was delayed.”

Zimbabwe needed a last-gasp winner from Power Master forward Tafadzwa Kutinyu, who is dubbed to emerge as one of the big-name local players in the future, after the Young Warriors had allowed the Swazis to claw back into the game late in the second half with an 83rd minute equaliser from striker Mlamuli Nkambule.

Aces Youth Academy forward Walter Musona had given Zimbabwe the lead when he headed home on the back post from a free-kick from the left.

Zimbabwe will meet group leaders Botswana in Mafeteng tomorrow afternoon in a battle to decide who tops the group ahead of the play-offs for the semi-final slots against teams in Group B that includes Angola, Mozambique and Madagascar.