Warriors forward Tino Kadewere is delighted after making a dream start to life at new side FC Nantes, scoring a double on his debut to help the club progress to the next stage of the French Cup with a 4 – 1 win over Pau on Friday night.
Kadewere completed a switch from Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyon to fellow league rivals Nantes last Thursday and was thrown into the fray at half time as the club was trailing by a goal to their second tier league rivals.
The striker made an immediate impact, ironically on his birthday, to score two late goals which ended the player’s near two-year barren spell without a goal in French football.
The former Harare City man scored Nantes’ second goal in the 80th minute after Florent Mollet’s equaliser three minutes after the break, controlling Douglas Augusto’s pass before poking the ball home.
Three minutes later the Zimbabwean doubled his tally for the night after receiving a cross from Quentin Merlin on the right and dancing past the Pau goalkeeper before rolling the ball into an empty net.
Abdoul Kader Bamba made it four for the visitors two minutes before full time.
“This first match is good for my confidence because it’s been a long time since I scored. I’m very happy to be here. I came here with ambitions to help the team and progress too so I'm happy with this first match, scoring two goals like that. I managed to help the team to win a match, it's very important," Kadewere said.
Kadewere joined Nantes on a six-month loan and the club has an option to buy the player at the end of the season if it survives relegation.
Coach Jocelyn Gourvennec reportedly made contact with Kadewere, who has been struggling for game time this season when Nantes lost 1 – 0 to Lyon on December 20 and managed to convince him to join the club.
Gourvennec was full of praise for Kadewere and feels the player is not recognised for his true value.
“Tino Kadewere wanted to join us. Other clubs entered into discussions during the holidays, but he kept his word. He has a lot of presence in the box, and he is a real team player. He was incisive and sharp. He is a very good player, not recognised for his true value because he had some problems. He's a very good player. "He's a real team player,” he said.
Former Tottenham player Moussa Sissoko who is now playing for Nantes said Kadewere couldn’t have had a better birthday.
“He couldn't have had a better birthday present, it's a magnificent day for him,” he said.
Defender Merlin felt the introduction of Kadewere changed the complexion of the match.
“His entry clearly changed the match. He is a talented player, very hardworking. We have to continue to use him, he has potential, he can hurt a lot of defences. I'm happy for him for his debut, it's a nice birthday present,” he said.
Kadewere is likely going to make his league debut for Nantes next weekend when they host Clermont Foot.
Nantes are currently in 13th place with 18 points from 17 matches in the French league but have lost their last three matches in the league.
The club has also lost Mostafa Mohamed and Moses Simon who are playing at the Afcon finals, representing Egypt and Nigeria respectively.