The Sunday News
Mandla Ncube, Sports Reporter
WHEN the domestic transfer window shuts on Tuesday, teams will have time to reflect on their respective businesses and one particular club, Chicken Inn may feel they had the window’s biggest steal in the form of Brian Muza.
Seeing Chicken Inn’s limitations for large parts of the second half of last season and direct title rivals FC Platinum going on a shopping spree in the transfer window, many would have expected the Gamecocks to go into the market and make a statement with their acquisitions, however, less heralded Muza may prove to be the missing piece of the Chicken Inn jigsaw puzzle.
With a good eye for goals and the vision to uncover a pass that no one would have seen, Muza ticks pretty much all the boxes Joey Antipas needs to rekindle his Chicken Inn attack and the team’s title aspirations.
“He is an explosive player, very strong on the ball and a very pacey player in the mould of Obriel (Chirinda), he will give us a lot in attack. For now he is working very hard to adjust to the team,” said Antipas.
At 23 years of age, while with Talen Vision, Muza last season suffered his first most significant football heartbreak, marginally losing the promotion race having looked almost certain they would bag it only to be pipped by Bulawayo City towards the finish line. However, following that disappointment, Muza believes his capture by Chicken Inn is a reward for the hard work he put in 2019.
“That was a painful moment of which I can’t afford to dwell on it, its football, you win, you lose. I consider this as a result of my hard work and with some bit of luck, and it’s no surprise a big team like Chicken Inn liked me from Division One, and this is really a nice move and it even gives me hope to fight again,” Muza said.
The Gamecocks which in football are a team in a different spectrum from Talen Vision altogether Muza admits he is still getting his feet on the ground getting into shape to meet the demands of the new level.
“It’s hard, I can’t say I am already fit enough to fit with the premier league standards, it’s far different from Division One. I am still working hard to adapt because I have come to the realisation that this level requires more energy than I expected,” Muza said.
With a respectable 14 goals to his name last season, just one shy of the eventual golden boot winner and earning himself a spot in the Zifa Southern Region Division One calendar, Muza is alive to the fact that a honeymoon in a team of Chicken Inn’s pedigree may be a luxury he may not be afforded.
“Football is a pressure game, you’re judged every day, what you did last game or last year doesn’t count much but I am hoping to do my best and help the team to win honours. As for pressure I have to do what I am capable of, if I fail I would have failed,” Muza said.
The Covid-19 pandemic may have prolonged Muza’s wait for premiership debut, with no set date for the commencement of the league and all trainings stopped, Muza lamented on how much of a disruption the whole ordeal is proving to be.
“It has affected our preparation as a team to a large extent, we were already fit and ready for the season but one or two months break is too much. When we come back, we have to start from the bottom,” said Muza.
Nevertheless, Muza could not have prayed for a better start to life at Chicken Inn winning a pre-season trophy in Malawi in a four-team tournament to set the tone for the season.
