×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Musona cleared

Sport
THE Warriors received a major boost yesterday after talisman Knowledge Musona was certified fit for the 2014 World Cup football qualifier against Guinea in Conakry on Sunday.

THE Warriors received a major boost yesterday after talisman Knowledge Musona was certified fit for the 2014 World Cup football qualifier against Guinea in Conakry on Sunday.

Report by Tawanda Tafirenyika

Warriors coach Klaus Dieter Pagels and his technical team had been fretting over the fitness of the Germany-based striker.

The Hoffenheim striker sat out the training session on Tuesday with a hamstring injury. But Pagels was a relieved man yesterday after Musona, who has scored two of the three goals Zimbabwe have managed in the campaign so far, was declared fit by the medical team.

Zimbabwe lost 1-2 to Egypt in Alexandria in March before they were hammered 4-2 — Lincoln Zvasiya scored the other goal — at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Sunday.

“We have Musona who has been a doubt, but is now fit. We will have another training session where we will work a little bit on the defence. And then I think we will be well prepared for this match,” said Pagels after the morning training session.

The Warriors had another training session yesterday ahead of their scheduled departure via Senegal this afternoon.

The team is scheduled to depart at 13.30 and will fly via Johannesburg, arrive  in Dakar, Senegal, at 7.30 and touch down in Conakry on Friday morning.

The German coach said Guinea — who mauled Mozambique 6-1 in a 2014 World Cup qualifier in Conakry at the weekend — have a dangerous attack that includes Bundesliga side VFB Stuttgart striker Ibrahim Traore, who is well known to Musona.

“I don’t know much about Guinea, but from their 6-1 defeat of Mozambique I gathered that they played with three strikers. They also have Traore who plays for VFB Stuttgart and is very dangerous in attack,” said Pagels.

Traore was one of the goalscorers as Guinea demolished Mozambique. Sadio Diallo and Mohamed Yattara scored a brace each with Mohammed Diarra also weighing in with the other goal to ensure Egypt will have to wait a little longer before confirming their place in the final round of qualifying matches.

The Warriors will be without forwards Khama Billiart and Mathew Rusike, who have been ruled out of the match owing to injuries. Zimbabwe are already out of the race for Brazil and are bottom of their group with just a single point, while Guinea are placed second in the group with seven points.

Egypt lead the group with 12 points with Mozambique second from bottom with two points.

Pagels, however, insists his project is on the right track as he builds a new-look team to compete for a place at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations finals while the local-based players in the squad will take part in the Cosafa Castle Cup and the Chan qualifiers next month.