Nyasha Mushekwi scores 19 in debut season

By Grace Chingoma

Zimbabwe international forward Nyasha Mushekwi’s profile as one of the best forwards in the country continues to grow after he finished the season as the second best goal scorer in Chinese League One.

He scored 19 league goals for his club Dalian Yifang. Mushekwi, plying his trade in Chinese second-tier football league, was second behind Brazilian Luis Fabiano, who won the Golden Boot with 22 goals with his club Tianjin Quanjin crowned the champions of League One.

The Warriors striker capped the season, which ended at the weekend, with another goal on a losing note, when they fell 3-1 to Qingdao Huanghai on Saturday. Mushekwi won the Golden Boot with CAPS United in 2009 in a season in which he scored 21 goals.

He moved to South African side Mamelodi Sundowns the following year where he finished as the second best goalscorer in the ABSA Premiership 2010 /2011 season with 14 goals behind compatriot and Golden Boot winner Knowledge Musona who scored 15 goals.

Mushekwi’s form will be good news for Warriors coach Callisto Pasuwa, who is looking forward to having many of his stars striking a rich vein of form ahead of the African Cup of Nations next year.

His team, though, failed to secure promotion to the Chinese Super League as they finished fifth, 14 points behind Tianjin Quanjin, who got the two promotion slots together with runners-up Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng.

But Mushekwi, who is living his dream in China after his career suffered a number of setbacks when he was still contracted to Mamelodi Sundowns, said he was looking forward to a great future.

Speaking from his base yesterday, Mushekwi told The Herald he was excited by his performance in his first season in China. “I had a blessed season here in China. It wasn’t easy, from the language to the different culture and food, but I managed.

“I don’t think I did as well as I was hoping to, but I thank God for this season. Playing all 30 games was the first of my career. “I enjoyed every single moment of it,” said Mushekwi. Mushekwi joined the Chinese club in January on a three-year contract and is optimistic of getting a contract with a top-flight club.

“Of course, my main objective is to play in the Super League, this my goal, but we will see how that comes out. “It was my first season here in China, scoring 19 goals was an absolute blessing.

“I’m hoping to do way more than I did, of course, but that’s all by God’s grace,” said Mushekwi. The Warriors forward, who is going through a messy divorce, said he had something to cheer for this year.

“I’m grateful. Totally. I had a rough year personally, but God has seen me through, now is time to rest till I see what God has in store for me next season,” said Mushekwi. Although he was disappointed that his club could only finish a distant fifth, Mushekwi says it is still work in progress.

“Our fans were amazing, the support from them pushed us further than we could’ve gone if we didn’t have them, also the support from the teammates made me feel at home, it was a blessing and I am truly grateful.

“Unfortunately, our season didn’t end so well as we finished fifth, yet our main goal was to get promotion to the Super League, but at least now as a team we know the mistakes we made and know what to do next season,” said Mushekwi. The Herald