Walter Musona longs for Ndlovu-esque sibling moment

12 May, 2024 - 00:05 0 Views
Walter Musona longs  for Ndlovu-esque  sibling moment

Tadious Manyepo

Sports Reporter

WALTER MUSONA has blazed a trail, after winning the Soccer Star of the Year accolade two years ago.

He has become a permanent feature in the Warriors setup, where, together with Chicken Inn goalkeeper Donovan Bernard, he enjoys a starting berth from the locally based lot.

His bullet free-kick from 32 yards out that gave the Warriors a temporary lead against continental giants Nigeria in a 2026 World Cup qualifier that eventually ended 1-1 at Huye Stadium in Rwanda last November will be etched in the minds of Zimbabweans for many years.

But the Simba Bhora captain has just one wish.

Or is it regret?

He wanted to join an exclusive group of siblings who have featured for the Warriors at the same time. Former skipper Peter Ndlovu, arguably the best Zimbabwe has ever had at the national team level, played alongside his brothers Madinda and Adam (late) in the Warriors squad in the 1990s when the team was affectionately called the “Dream Team ‘’.

When the eldest of them, Madinda, had long seen off his playing time, Peter and Adam combined well to take the Warriors to their maiden African Cup of Nations, where they scored four goals between them in 2004.

The Mugeyi twins, William and Wifred; then Peter and Patrick Mubaiwa; and Cain and Abel Muteji all shared the locker at the national team level.

And Walter can only wonder how things would have panned out had he been playing for the Warriors alongside his elder brother Knowledge.

Knowledge, who is plying his trade in the cash-rich Saudi Arabia league, captained the Warriors at the 2021 AFCON (played in 2022) in Cameroon, which was his third appearance at the biennial contest, having been part of the team that also did duty in the 2017 and 2019 tournaments.

Walter was yet to bloom enough to earn a place in the national team despite being a decent player at South African side Polokwane City.

Now, Knowledge has called time on his international career and Walter has tried, in vain, to convince him to reconsider his move, just to experience the feeling of being in the same changing room with a sibling.

“I must admit that I was slow in terms of the growth of my game,” he said. “Maybe, I could have played for the senior national team long back and got to be with my brother Knowledge in the same squad.

“It’s something that I always wished to get a feel of. I wanted to be part of that small group of siblings who made it big donning the national colours at the same time.

“Knowledge is my guardian angel and I can only wonder how well I could have done playing alongside him at the national team level.

“When he decided to quit international football, I registered my worries with him and promptly made attempts to have him reconsider everything.”

Walter still wishes someone could convince Knowledge to change his mind.

“I am really pained that we never got a chance to play alongside each other,” he said. “It was going to be good for us and our family to be recorded in the history books as siblings who ticked the boxes at the national team level.

“But I feel like blaming myself because I wasn’t up to the task when I was supposed to be there when Knowledge was making things happen for the Warriors.”

Walter is expected to play a key role in Zimbabwe’s upcoming 2026 World Cup double-header against Lesotho and South                     Africa.

Without a proper home to entertain visitors, the Warriors have adopted Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg and will host Lesotho at the magnificent arena on June 7.

They will then travel 395km further down to Bloemfontein, where they will be the guests against South Africa at Free State Stadium four days later.

Two South Africa-based Zimbabwean companies, Mama Money and Zororo-Phumulani, have pledged to give a hand to the Warriors once they set foot across the Limpopo.

The two matches will be key in determining the Warriors’ destiny in their quest to qualify for a maiden dance at the World Cup.

The quadrennial fiesta will be jointly staged in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

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