For any footballer, going through what Knowledge Musona endured at Anderlecht  might cause serious damage psychologically.

The Warriors captain had perhaps the most frustrating period of his career at the club where he arrived in 2018 with so much hope for himself and the football-loving nation.

He barely featured though, even in at least the matchday squad.

Incredibly, three different coaches somehow regarded the ‘Smiling Asasin’ as excess baggage and one wonders how often he smiled during those two years.

To make matter worse, he also had a below par AFCON  2019.

He missed a glorious chance against Uganda, which many nailed him for it, forgetting that he had single-handedly taken the Warriors to Egypt, scoring 5 of Zimbabwe’s 9 goals in the qualifying campaign.

His critics were persistant that he not be called for national duty, an idea which the Joey Antipas-led technical team appeared to have initially listend to.

He was not drafted into the Warriors fold for the World Cup 2022 preliminary round qualifier against Somalia in September last year.

When he was recalled for the AFCON 2021 qualifiers against Botswana and Zambia, his critics were infuriated again but their “compains” fell on deaf ears and Mafero re-instated him as skipper.

Musona’s loan move to KAS Eupen appears to have galvanised him- he now has that responsibility to deliver week in week out for a club where many look up to him.

The coach there even played him in an unfamiliar position in their Belgian Pro League season-opener on Monday,  a sign of the amount of trust he has in the player.

He simply has to focus on his football and deliver at KAS Eupen.

I deliberately mentioned the club only and not the Warriors because objectively-speaking, Musona has not a had the best of times in Europe  but has always delivered for Zimbabwe.

He just turned 30 and still has plenty to offer.

The selective amnesia his critics apply in nailing him while forgetting his ability is something every footballer has to ignore and focus on his career.