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Peter Ndlovu urges Musona to delay retirement plans
11 Jan 2022 at 23:26hrs | Views
ZIMBABWE football legend Peter Ndlovu has implored Warriors skipper Knowledge Musona to delay his plans to retire from international football.
Ndlovu, who led the Warriors to their maiden Afcon appearance in 2004, said he will be happy to see the current captain going all the way and surpass his goal-scoring record for the national team.
The former Coventry City forward is the most capped Zimbabwean, with 100 caps, and the country's all-time top goal-scorer with 38 goals.
Musona, who has almost half the national team caps, is not far off with 23 goals to his name.
Ndlovu, who made his name during the Dream Team era, believes the 31-year-old Musona still has the potential to get the crown for him if he decided to play on a few more seasons.
Ndlovu, who is now team manager at South Africa giants Mamelodi Sundowns, also gave Musona a few tips going forward.
"I think what is important as captain you need to have captains around you.
As for me, I was lucky to have captains around me the likes of Kaitano (Tembo), the late Adam (Ndlovu), Francis Shonhai and Norman Mapeza around me.
"So it made captaining the team very simple because I had captains around me. Knowledge also has captains around him and they will help him to lead the team.
From the front, it gets easier for him to get the goals," said Ndlovu.
"By the way, I am still going to put it on record to say ‘Knowledge, you are edging closer boy to my record and you can do it.
"You must not retire before you surpass my number of goals.
You are close, don't give up and it starts tomorrow that you can put in one or two and the gap will get close and close," said Ndlovu.
Musona, who made his debut for Zimbabwe in November 2010, has remained loyal to the national team cause in the last decade.
Together with close friend Khama Billiat, the experienced forward has played a big role in the Warriors team in the last few yearswhen Zimbabwe hit a new record by qualifying for the Afcon finals three times in succession.
Musona, has featured in all the three editions that included the 2017 edition in Gabon, the 2019 finals in Egypt and now the delayed 2021 edition currently taking place in Cameron.
He took over the captain's armband from Willard Katsande at the conclusion of the 2017 Afcon finals in Gabon.
The Warriors forward, however, has shown signs of retarding from being the mercurial goal-scoring machine that took no prisoners at the peak of his football powers.
Musona indicated in an interview with our sister paper, The Sunday Mail, that the current Afcon finals could be his last in the Warriors colours before he could hang up his boots.
His contemporary Billiat, with whom he made his national team debut around the same time in 2010 under coach Norman Mapeza, retired from international football just before the Afcon tournament last November, after spending 11 years with the senior national team.
Ndlovu, who led the Warriors to their maiden Afcon appearance in 2004, said he will be happy to see the current captain going all the way and surpass his goal-scoring record for the national team.
The former Coventry City forward is the most capped Zimbabwean, with 100 caps, and the country's all-time top goal-scorer with 38 goals.
Musona, who has almost half the national team caps, is not far off with 23 goals to his name.
Ndlovu, who made his name during the Dream Team era, believes the 31-year-old Musona still has the potential to get the crown for him if he decided to play on a few more seasons.
Ndlovu, who is now team manager at South Africa giants Mamelodi Sundowns, also gave Musona a few tips going forward.
"I think what is important as captain you need to have captains around you.
As for me, I was lucky to have captains around me the likes of Kaitano (Tembo), the late Adam (Ndlovu), Francis Shonhai and Norman Mapeza around me.
"So it made captaining the team very simple because I had captains around me. Knowledge also has captains around him and they will help him to lead the team.
From the front, it gets easier for him to get the goals," said Ndlovu.
"By the way, I am still going to put it on record to say ‘Knowledge, you are edging closer boy to my record and you can do it.
"You must not retire before you surpass my number of goals.
You are close, don't give up and it starts tomorrow that you can put in one or two and the gap will get close and close," said Ndlovu.
Musona, who made his debut for Zimbabwe in November 2010, has remained loyal to the national team cause in the last decade.
Together with close friend Khama Billiat, the experienced forward has played a big role in the Warriors team in the last few yearswhen Zimbabwe hit a new record by qualifying for the Afcon finals three times in succession.
Musona, has featured in all the three editions that included the 2017 edition in Gabon, the 2019 finals in Egypt and now the delayed 2021 edition currently taking place in Cameron.
He took over the captain's armband from Willard Katsande at the conclusion of the 2017 Afcon finals in Gabon.
The Warriors forward, however, has shown signs of retarding from being the mercurial goal-scoring machine that took no prisoners at the peak of his football powers.
Musona indicated in an interview with our sister paper, The Sunday Mail, that the current Afcon finals could be his last in the Warriors colours before he could hang up his boots.
His contemporary Billiat, with whom he made his national team debut around the same time in 2010 under coach Norman Mapeza, retired from international football just before the Afcon tournament last November, after spending 11 years with the senior national team.
Source - The Chronicle
