×
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.

Billiat’s big chance to shine

Sport
Pretoria — Khama Billiat admits to feeling a degree of fear when he thinks about how he’ll perform in the Fifa Club World Cup that starts tomorrow for Mamelodi Sundowns and the Africa Cup of Nations early next year.

Pretoria — Khama Billiat admits to feeling a degree of fear when he thinks about how he’ll perform in the Fifa Club World Cup that starts tomorrow for Mamelodi Sundowns and the Africa Cup of Nations early next year.

The Star

Khama Billiat
Khama Billiat

These two tournaments could be a defining moment in the Zimbabwean forward’s dream of playing abroad.

His star power grew during his participation in the Caf Champions League, attracting interest from Egyptian giants Al-Ahly and Zamalek.

Billiat is the favourite to win Caf’s African-based Player of the Year award, where he is nominated with three other Sundowns players – Hlompho Kekana, Keagan Dolly and Denis Onyango – along with TP Mazembe’s Rainford Kalaba. That award would join the PSL’s Footballer of the Year gong he collected in May.

Having conquered South Africa and the continent, Billiat and his teammates are now looking to conquer the world in a tournament that features the winners of the premier continental club competition from all six confederations. “You have to be professional about it and look at it in an honest way,” he said.

“I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Now that it’s getting closer, I constantly ask myself, am I ready? What more do I need to do?

“I know that I need to rectify certain areas so that when I get there I am more than ready. It’s a bit scary trying to think about how I’ll perform.”

Billiat continued: “I need to go to these tournaments in the best form. I have worked on a lot of areas that I think I am weak on, because this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“If I don’t use it or do my best, it would be a disappointment for my career.”

With this personal pressure to do well, how Billiat controls his emotions and expectations will be critical.

His teammate, Teko Modise was in a similar boat in 2010, with the world at his feet, just like it is with Billiat now.

Modise was the poster boy for the first World Cup played on African soil. He wasn’t at his best in that tournament, with Bafana Bafana becoming the first hosts to bomb out in the group stage of the World Cup. Despite that, Modise still attracted interest from overseas, but nothing materialised.

That demoralised the midfielder. It took a long time for him to return to his best and recover from that disappointment.

“It’s important to control your nerves and emotions because we have been waiting for this for a long time,” Billiat said.

“We don’t want to go there and start panicking to a point that we look like we have never won anything or played against strong oppositions. We shouldn’t get carried away because this is a huge tournament.”

Sundowns start their campaign tomorrow against Japanese J1-League champions, Kashima Antlers, with the possibility of meeting South American champions Atletico Nacional in the semi-finals and European giants Real Madrid in the final.

After that, the Brazilians will return to honour their domestic league commitments just before the Afcon break. There will be no rest for Billiat though.

He will report to his national team camp afterwards, as part of the Zimbabwean generation that ended a decade long wait to play in the Afcon.

“I believe that every game is an opportunity for you to go overseas because you never know who is watching,” Billiat said.

“That’s why you must be constantly on top of your game because some people might be interested in you.”