Warriors midfielder Kundai Benyu said he is still in pain following an injury he sustained during the 1-0 loss to Senegal in the 2021 AFCON Group B opener.
The 24-year-old struggled with the knock on his tendon and coach Norman Mapeza has to substitute him for Thabani Kamusoko midway in the second half. Said Benyu:
Right now I am in pain but I and the physios are in agreement that it’s not the most serious injury. We’ll try to recover as quickly as possible and see how I am in the next couple of days to hopefully be ready for the Malawi game and so on.
According to The Herald, Mapeza disclosed that Musona complained of some flue-like symptoms at half-time but was eager to play some minutes in the second half.
Mapeza expects both Musona and Benyu to recover well in time for the match against Malawi. He said:
I have been talking to the team doctors yesterday (Monday) and today (yesterday) about the two guys (Musona and Benyu). I was talking to Knowledge (Musona) at half-time.
He felt he had something like flu and was feeling a bit tired but he said he could push for about 20 or so minutes that’s why we kept him in the game.
On the flue-like signs, the doctors said he is fine and Kundai (Benyu) just had a knock-like on his tendon but it’s not something bad so we will see tomorrow (today) how they will be doing when we resume training.
Reflecting on the Warriors’ performance against Senegal, Benyu said they can hold their heads high after giving a proper shift against tournament favourites. Said Benyu:
I thought it went well, we kept them to minimal chances for most of the game and we also had a couple of chances ourselves. We showed that we also are to be taken seriously.
We went toe to toe with one of the tournament favourites and if it wasn’t for a penalty in the last seconds of the game we would’ve taken a point so everyone should hold their heads high and be proud and move on to the next game with the same mentality.