The oldest football cup competition in the world the English FA Cup had its 4th round of matches taking place on the week ending February 7th, 2025, and like always it was filled with surprising results and milestones for others.
Zimbabwe international Marshal Munetsi who made a deadline move from the French Ligue 1 to the English Premier League, for West Midlands side Wolverhampton Wanderers found himself having a feel of what English football entails, taking part in his first official match for his new club in the FA cup.
For football loving fans in Zimbabwe, they could not wait to see one of their own dawning the colors of his new club in the most followed football league across the globe. Just seeing his name on the match day squad for the encounter was heartwarming enough for many as Wolves took on Blackburn Rovers.
Moreover, since the move to Molineux the Wolves Facebook page has been awash and buzzing with football fans from Zimbabwe supporting one of their own.
With the Wanderers going 2 up inside 34 minutes in the first half courtesy of goals from Cunha and Gomes in the 33rd and 34th minute respectively, many hoped to see their compatriot making his first runs in the English game and make his runs he did as he came on as 2nd half substitute in the 66th minute to the delight of many.
Oozing with confidence Munetsi played as if he was picking up from where the great trio of Peter Ndlovu, Bruce Grobbelaar and Benjani Mwaruwari had left off, making the kind of interplay, runs that had made the West Midlands side to fork out a whooping 16 million pounds for his services from Stade Reims.
Coming close to scoring on 3 occasions with one shot slightly going wide from a loose ball from a corner kick set piece, you would think it was not his debut match as he instantly jelled in the setup and positioned himself well in goal scoring situations.
As Wolves won the match 2nil, Munetsi in his post-match interview, you could tell here is a man oozing with confidence and ever ready to make his mark in the West Midlands just as the great Peter Ndlovu did for Wolves’ rivals in Coventry City FC. Ever composed and responding to questions articulately, for football’s sake may its beauty come through this workhorse of a player.
If his debut in the English game was epic then his league debut will be historically profound a hundred-fold, as Wolves will be taking on the Reds of Merseyside Liverpool. As fate has been previously mentioned in comparison with Peter Ndlovu, one hopes just as the Flying Elephant scored the first hattrick in decades at Anfield by a visiting player, Munetsi can come close to replicating what his is great compatriot achieved with a team form the West Midlands again.
As tomorrow draws nearer, football loving fans of the West Midlands side and Zimbabweans alike who overnight have become ardent followers of Wolverhampton Wanderers and somewhat switching allegiance from their traditional English teams will be looking forward to this encounter.
As this year marks exactly 30 years since Peter Ndlovu and the Anfield Hattrick, the Warriors midfield maestro Munetsi should draw inspiration and confidence from the exploits of the greatest Warrior of all, and Marshal the midfield and write the fondest of tales, just as the great Nsukuzonke did in 1995 giving David James a nightmare as he had to collect the ball from the back of the net 3 times from the same scorer.
The Flying Elephant is one of only 3 players to score a hattrick at Anfield against the Merseyside giants, the first actually to score a hattrick for a visiting team in the English Premier League in March of 1995, the other being Russian Andre Arshavin for Arsenal in 4-4 against the Reds in April 2009 with Leandro Trossard becoming the 3rd in 2022.
Marshal Munetsi can surely draw inspiration from his compatriot the former captain, a luminary in not only being the first one to score a hattrick but being also the first African player to play and kickball in the English Premier League.
