Why Michael Nees desperately lured Knowledge Musona back
Zimbabwe head coach Michael Nees has explained why he went out of his way to lure back ex-Kaizer Chiefs striker Knowledge Musona from international football retirement.
The German coach who is at the helm of The Warriors of Zimbabwe as head coach successfully convinced ‘The Smiling Assasin’ to come out of retirement.
Musona initially called it a day in May 2022 after captaining Zimbabwe at the 2021 AFCON edition. Three years later, the Saudi Arabia-based striker is back and he headlines The Warriors squad for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. They face Benin and Nigeria on the 20th and 25th of March.
While his return came as a surprise on Wednesday, Nees said the decision was made last year. Nees said Musona was on standby during the final round of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.
NEES ON WHY HE LURED KNOWLEDGE MUSONA FROM RETIREMENT
The German mentor said bringing the 34-year-old back is part of his plot to expand his options ahead of the 2025 AFCON edition. Already, he is banking on the former Amakhosi star to help enhance The Warriors’ forward movements.
“Until the AFCON, we need to enlarge the group on each position so that on each position we can have three options at any given time,” Nees said.
“I have been in contact with him before I even arrived here. The players had some reservations about what happened in the past when I was not here. Not everything was running perfectly, so players retired. Then Knowledge was always willing, in fact, he was ready to come in November.
“We had already applied for his visa but people didn’t even know. However, Knowledge did not want to impose himself on the team because the team was doing very well. It would have created more disturbances with him coming back. He could have been a scapegoat if things didn’t go well.
“But Knowledge, in case we had a crisis in terms of injuries and suspensions, he would have come to Cameroon, the visa was already done but no one knew.”
WHY MUSONA RETIRED IN THE FIRST PLACE
Nees revealed that players like Musona and Khama Billiat were forced to retire from international football because of disliking the previous ZIFA leadership.
“Less talking is more. It shows the character he has. He was ready and we agreed that we take it up, he would have helped the team,” added Nees. “But like many other players, the elections were coming. They wanted to see who was coming into office, the future of football.
“So they didn’t want to come back, and the same people came into power as before and retired again. They also had to wait and this is the result.”
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