A long five months journey to AFCON

24 Mar, 2019 - 00:03 0 Views
A long five months journey to AFCON

The Sunday Mail

FIVE months ago, at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Zimbabwe Warriors came of age in the 2019 AFCON qualifiers.

If they clear the final hurdle today at the National Sports Stadium against Congo-Brazzaville, the Warriors will know that their success story was written back in Kinshasa on October 16, last year.

And, by the time the team returned home, they were feeling the love of a nation with hordes of supporters on hand to welcome them at Robert Mugabe International Airport on the day skipper Knowledge Musona’s “mystery’’ wonder goal was trending on social media.

The Warriors joined a rare breed of teams that go to Kinshasa and come out with a win against the plucky Democratic Republic of Congo Leopards.

Bloemfontein Celtic left-back Ronald Pfumbidzai marked his return to the Warriors starting line-up after a long spell with the opening goal struck on the turn in the box in the first half.

Anderlecht striker Musona then gave the Warriors the insurance goal they needed to avoid the disappointment of the draw they had endured on their last away assignment against Congo in Brazzaville last month.

Musona, however, saw red after being booked for the second time on the night by Moroccan referee Redouane Jiyed, five minutes after he had grabbed his team’s second and fourth of this campaign with a cheekily taken goal.

But millions of Zimbabweans watching the match on the SuperSport channel had to wait until yesterday to have a glimpse of the goal when it went viral on social media.

This is because for the better of the second half on Saturday night, there was intermittent breakdown of transmission with many viewers surprised to see a change on the scoreboard when the SuperSport channel reconnected.

The SuperSport commentators on the night did not help matters either as they kept talking of a possibility of DRC drawing level when the scoreboard already read 2-0.

When they did confirm that Musona had grabbed Zimbabwe’s second before his expulsion, that goal became such a mystery even after the game and for the early parts of yesterday with many searching to get a clip of the strike.

Social media eventually stepped in and provided the answers. And what a gem of goal it was as Musona intercepted a poor pass by the Congolese goalkeeper Anthony

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