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Musona hints on retirement

Sport
Musona was quoted by BBC saying he would make an announcement when the time was ripe.

By Kevin Mapasure WARRIORS captain Knowledge Musona has said he is considering retiring from international football following Zimbabwe’s exit from the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cameroon last week.

Musona was quoted by BBC saying he would make an announcement when the time was ripe.

He hinted that he may not add to his 51 caps. He scored Zimbabwe’s opening goal in their 2-1 win over Guinea in their last Group B match.

“I am still thinking about it,” he said. “When the time comes I will announce it.”

Once he eventually hangs up his boots, Musona is considering taking a role in the development of Zimbabwean football.

“Maybe, because I really love my country and I will do anything to help it become one of the best teams,” he said.

“We have the talent, but sometimes we don’t have the resources. When the time comes, I will be open to help my country to develop this sport.”

Coach Norman Mapeza believes Musona has already made a lasting impact in the southern African country.

“He has contributed massively to football,” he said.

“You don’t have to doubt his contribution to Zimbabwean football. To me, he is one of the legends of Zimbabwean football.”

The former Hoffenhem forward said Zimbabwe needed to put more effort into junior development for the senior team to improve its performance.

“We need to develop our grassroots football, to develop from the Under-17s, Under-20s and Under-23s to prepare our national team for our next assignments,” the 31-year-old forward said.

“Some of us, maybe in a few years’ time, are going to stop and we have some guys growing up and trying to maintain the level of Zimbabwean football.

“I am really optimistic that something should be done for the development of the game.”

He revealed that ahead of the Guinea match, Mapeza told the players to go out and play without pressure.

“We are happy that we gave it our all and gave a good fight to all the opponents,” he said.

“The coach told us that we must go out there and enjoy the game because we knew already that we were out of the tournament, so we had no pressure.

“It’s also a good feeling that we ended our group matches with a win because at least we have some hope for our next games.”

With the victory against Guinea, Zimbabwe ended a winless run at Afcon, having last won at the continental showcase in 2006.

They plunge back into action in March in their bid to qualify for the 2023 edition of Afcon.

The draw for the qualifiers is yet to be conducted.

Zimbabwe face a tough qualifying campaign as they will be forced to play their home matches in neighbouring countries after the Confederation of African Football imposed a ban on all local stadia for failing to meet minimum standards.

  • Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevinmapasure

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