Joy for Kadewere, setback for Nakamba
Innocent Kurira
ON the day Tino Kadewere scored the first Spanish La Liga goal by a Zimbabwean by finding the target for Real Mallorca, his countryman Marvelous Nakamba suffered yet another setback after he picked up an injury in Luton Town’s 1-0 defeat to Burnley.
Kadewere wrote his own piece of history after becoming the first Zimbabwean to play in the Spanish La Liga in Real Mallorca’s 4-2 triumph over Villarreal at Iberostar Stadium on Saturday. He was on the pitch for 78 minutes until he was replaced by Ángel Rodríguez.
The Zimbabwean striker’s debut came in December last year as his Real Mallorca outfit faced Getafe. He came on as a second half substitute in that game and had not started a game since then.
Saturday’s game against Villarreal was Kadewere’s first La liga start. Kadewere could have made his debut earlier but a muscle injury kept him out for some time before returning to action late last year. The forward tapped in from close range with his left foot to put Mallorca into an early lead following a square pass from Vedat Muriqi who provided the assist 20 minutes into the game.
Kadewere is on loan from Olympic Lyon after the French Ligue side signed the player from Le Havre for €12m where he finished as Ligue 2’s top scorer in 2020.
In his debut season for Lyon, Kadewere scored 10 goals but could not replicate the same form last season, starting less than five games and scoring only once in fifteen matches across all competitions, resulting in his loan move to Spain.
While there was joy for Kadewere, Nakamba who is finding his footing at championship side Luton Town suffered an injury.
The midfielder limped off the pitch 68 minutes into Luton Town’s 1-0 defeat to log leaders Burnley and was replaced by Allan Campbell. His side conceded 10 minutes after Nakamba had left the pitch from the penalty spot.
The extent of the injury is not known, but Zimbabweans will be hoping it’s not serious as the midfielder was now getting game time which he was failing to get at Aston Villa.
The 29-year-old fell out of favour at Aston Villa and was at times dropped from the match day squad. The loan move to Luton is an opportunity for Zimbabwean international to return to his best form and revive his waning career.
Jordan Zemura played 85 minutes for Bournemouth when they defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at the Molineux Stadium on Saturday. It was the first time that Bournemouth had beaten Wolves in the top flight. Zemura started at left back and was replaced by Uruguayan Matías Viña with five minutes to go.
In the Saudi Pro League, former Zimbabwe Warriors captain Knowledge Musona, who plays for Al-Tai’s has been voted in the Roshn Saudi League Team of the Week. Musona scored and provided an assist in Al-Tai’s 2-2 away against Al-Adalah.
It was the sixth assist for Musona this season and his fourth goal of the season. Musona had last found the target in October last year when he scored a hat trick in Al-Tai’s 3-0 triumph over Khaleej.