BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
Zimbabwe senior national football team captain Knowledge “Smiling Assassin” Musona maintained good form ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying matches this week after scoring a late goal as his club AS Eupen overcame a battling Kortrijk 2-0 in a Belgian league match on Saturday night.
Belgian international Julien Ngoy thrust AS Eupen into the lead on the 52nd minute, profiting from a set-up by Steff Peeters to fire from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner of the goal.
Musona had a good chance on the 65th minute, but his long-range drive hit the post. He, however, made up for it with a ferocious shot on the 80th minute to seal a victory for AS Eupen.
The victory lifted the Belgian side to 13th position on the league table before the league programme takes a break.
Musona, who is expected to fly to Harare today ahead of the Warriors trip to Botswana on Wednesday, is set to lead a severely depleted side with some Europe-based players ruled out of the two qualifiers with the other match coming up against Zambia, due to tough COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Most European sides, particularly in the United Kingdom have barred their players from travelling to Africa for fearing contracting coronavirus.
With Fifa giving clubs the freedom of choice to release players, most European clubs have decided not to release their players due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by their governments.
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This has affected the Warriors more than their opponents as they have more players plying their trade in Europe.
The Warriors will be without United Kingdom-based midfielder Marvelous Nakamba, Jordan Zemura, Admiral Muskwe and David Moyo.
The injuries to Kaizer Chiefs forward Khama Billiat, who is only expected to resume training on April 2 and Knox Mutizwa who suffered an injury last week, has not helped matters.
This has added more responsibility for Musona as the Warriors travel to Botswana for the showdown on Thursday. The Warriors talisman scored one of the goals in the two-all draw against the Desert Foxes of Algeria at the National Sports Stadium in Harare.
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