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Musona's nightmare
27 Jun 2019 at 09:08hrs | Views
WARRIORS captain Knowledge Musona was the fall guy last night as he missed three gilt-edged chances - two of them rated Misses of the Tournament - in Zimbabwe's 1-1 draw with Uganda.
The draw left Zimbabwe's second round hopes hanging by a thread as they must now beat DR Congo handsomely and hope that Egypt beat Uganda , but by fewer goals, as the teams conclude Group A matches.
Uganda might have stunned DR Congo 2-0 in their opening encounter but they were dominated by Zimbabwe for much of last night's game and the Warriors have themselves to blame for fluffing chances that kept the Cranes in the contest up to the final whistle.
The Uganda bench erupted in celebration at the final whistle as they now have a very good chance of reaching the second round as they have four points from the opening two matches. However, for a long time to come, the talk of the game will be the glaring misses by Musona who unfortunately was also the fall guy when the Warriors lost 1-0 to hosts Egypt in the opening game of the tournament last Friday.
Musona tried to be too clever for his own good and was dispossessed leading to the only goal of that first match, in the first half.
The game had very few chances, especially for Zimbabwe, and one moment of madness was going to decide the encounter. Being the very first game of the tournament, Musona's error was noted but not overplayed by Zimbabwean soccer fans. But the loss to Egypt meant that the Warriors had to beat Uganda last night to have destiny in their own hands ahead of the final group match against the DRC.
A blunder by recalled goalkeeper, George Chigova and poor recovery by defenders allowed Uganda to take an early lead through Emmanuel Okwi in the nth minute. Then came Musona's first miss in the 23rd minute.
Khama Billiat broke loose on the left flank and crossed the ball for Musona who had the attention of two defenders inside the box and he had the chance to control the ball before blazing his effort over the bar with goal-keeper, Denis Onyango already beaten.
The Zimbabwe bench was already up for celebration but they had to take their seats in disbelief.
A deserved equaliser came in the 40th minute when Musona brilliantly chested the ball to Karuru who had broken on the left flank and his cut back was neatly tucked in by Billiat. A chance to take the lead came in the 51st minute but Musona produced what is an early contender for Miss of the Tournament.
Karuru did well to break on the right and shrugged off two challengers before laying the ball to the far post where Musona was UNMARKED and facing an empty net. The Silent Assassin somehow opted for height and force only for the effort to hit the upright - Unbelievable! He was not done.
In injury time Musona opted to shoot at goal from edge of the box instead of passing the ball and the final chance of the night went begging and destiny is no longer in Zimbabwe's hands. On the other hand, Uganda are sitting pretty ahead of the final group matches.
The draw left Zimbabwe's second round hopes hanging by a thread as they must now beat DR Congo handsomely and hope that Egypt beat Uganda , but by fewer goals, as the teams conclude Group A matches.
Uganda might have stunned DR Congo 2-0 in their opening encounter but they were dominated by Zimbabwe for much of last night's game and the Warriors have themselves to blame for fluffing chances that kept the Cranes in the contest up to the final whistle.
The Uganda bench erupted in celebration at the final whistle as they now have a very good chance of reaching the second round as they have four points from the opening two matches. However, for a long time to come, the talk of the game will be the glaring misses by Musona who unfortunately was also the fall guy when the Warriors lost 1-0 to hosts Egypt in the opening game of the tournament last Friday.
Musona tried to be too clever for his own good and was dispossessed leading to the only goal of that first match, in the first half.
The game had very few chances, especially for Zimbabwe, and one moment of madness was going to decide the encounter. Being the very first game of the tournament, Musona's error was noted but not overplayed by Zimbabwean soccer fans. But the loss to Egypt meant that the Warriors had to beat Uganda last night to have destiny in their own hands ahead of the final group match against the DRC.
A blunder by recalled goalkeeper, George Chigova and poor recovery by defenders allowed Uganda to take an early lead through Emmanuel Okwi in the nth minute. Then came Musona's first miss in the 23rd minute.
Khama Billiat broke loose on the left flank and crossed the ball for Musona who had the attention of two defenders inside the box and he had the chance to control the ball before blazing his effort over the bar with goal-keeper, Denis Onyango already beaten.
The Zimbabwe bench was already up for celebration but they had to take their seats in disbelief.
A deserved equaliser came in the 40th minute when Musona brilliantly chested the ball to Karuru who had broken on the left flank and his cut back was neatly tucked in by Billiat. A chance to take the lead came in the 51st minute but Musona produced what is an early contender for Miss of the Tournament.
Karuru did well to break on the right and shrugged off two challengers before laying the ball to the far post where Musona was UNMARKED and facing an empty net. The Silent Assassin somehow opted for height and force only for the effort to hit the upright - Unbelievable! He was not done.
In injury time Musona opted to shoot at goal from edge of the box instead of passing the ball and the final chance of the night went begging and destiny is no longer in Zimbabwe's hands. On the other hand, Uganda are sitting pretty ahead of the final group matches.
Source - hmetro
