HARARE – Zimbabwe were handed a huge boost on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s 2022 World Cup preliminary round second leg tie with Somalia in Harare after star forward Khama Billiat declared himself fit.
Billiat missed Zimbabwe’s shock 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Djibouti last week as Zimbabwe lost to the lowest ranked team in Africa.
But the Kaizer Chiefs star, who was reported by his club to have suffered a “knock to his right pelvic bone” in their 2-1 away victory at Cape Town City two weeks ago, made the shock announcement that he was linking up with the national team on social media.
“National duty calls. In God We Trust,” he declared on Twitter, accompanying the post with a picture of himself in national team colours.
Warriors coach Joey Antipas, who blamed the first leg defeat on shambolic planning by ZIFA, had already called up Ovidy Karuru who plays for AmaZulu in the ABSA Premier League in South Africa and ZPC Kariba defender Ian Nekati to shore up his team.
Zimbabwe must beat Somalia by two clear goals to progress to the group stages – and Antipas now has the firepower to do just that.
