Chiefs’ Billiat praises Zimbabwe performance after pay dispute
Kaizer Chiefs striker Khama Billiat believes the pay dispute with the Zimbabwean Football Association (Zifa) did not affect the Warriors' performance in their 1-0 loss to Egypt in their 2019 Africa Cup ofNations opener on Friday night.
Zimbabwe international Khama Billiat scored for Kaizer Chiefs in a South African Premiership draw against SuperSport United Friday. AFP/File/KHALED DESOUKI
Reports ahead of the game that Zimbabwe players had threatened to boycott the match over pay, though Zifa subsequently denied this.
Zimbabwe put up a battling display at the Cairo International Stadium, even though they ended up on the losing side, Trezeguet netting a fine winner for the Pharaohs shortly before half time.
“I think the guys are really professional, if credit to them for that, that we put everything away in the space of a few hours, and shifted our focus to the game. That means a lot. If what happened made us have
a bad result today, we could have conceded more, and couldn’t have had
certain moments that we did.”
Zimbabwe are at their second Afcon in a row, having got just one point and failed to get out of the group in Gabon 2017. They do, however, still have a decent chance of making the last 16 at Afcon 2019, having
already played against the strongest team in Group A.
Billiat denied he was driven by any extra motivation, given that Zimbabwe have never made it out of the group stages at an Afcon.
“I am driven by the chance I get to play. Every time I play, I appreciate being called to the national team. I want to represent the country the best I can, to show … love to my country and to have the
best moments that I will look back at when I am done playing football.
I don’t want to look back and regret.”
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