Back-flip celebrations may have had boss Stuart Kettlewell’s heart in his mouth as Tawanda Maswanhise fired Zimbabwe to AFCON qualification – but his next one for Motherwell will be better.
Maswanhise’s first international goal to open the scoring in a 1-1 draw with Kenya was enough to qualify Zimbabwe in second place in Group J, and though they then lost 2-1 at Cameroon in their final section game, the flying winger says it has lifted the entire nation.
While Kettlewell might not have been happy with the exuberant celebrations, 22-year-old Maswanhise is already planning what to do next, as he bids to rattle in goals for club and country.
“I’m happy to score for my nation,” said Maswanhise. “It’s a big achievement, and I’m looking forward to scoring more goals.
“The goal was to get the point and qualification for the next AFCON tournament, so I’m buzzing for that.
“I’m quite looked up on back home, so hopefully I can do more things like that for my nation.
“We knew we had the belief and the team to compete against bigger teams in Africa, so I’m happy about that.
“I want to build on my goal-scoring for club and country. Hopefully I can continue that form.”
Maswanhise wasn’t the only person with wild celebrations when Zimbabwe qualified for AFCON, which takes place im Morocco from December 21 to January 18.
He said: “We had a little laugh about my celebration [him and Kettlewell], but that’s gone now, and my next celebration will be a good one!
“Everyone was lively when we qualified. We hadn’t qualified for two or three years, and with the ban itself from 2019, so it has been a good achievement for the whole nation, and it got a lot of love.
“It shows how much we wanted to qualify, plus it’s in Morocco, which is a nice country, so hopefully it will be a good tournament for us.”
For now, Maswanhise’s attention turns to the visit of Hibs this weekend, and he simply wants to continue the good work that resulted in international recognition in the first place.
Initially on a deal until January, Maswanhise has recently signed a contract extension until 2026, and is settled in Lanarkshire, for now.
He said: “I’m excited for this weekend. We know Hibs are a big club and stuff, so hopefully we can beat them and that would be good.
“The new contract is a weight off my shoulders and I can focus on the football on the pitch, and it has been really good.
“It means I can focus more on goals in my game, and hopefully I can help the team as much as I can.
“I’ve got to start somewhere, this is a good platform for me here, and hopefully I can get the goals and assists that I need.
“I just want to get my head down, achieve what I can at this club, and they should get their achievement from that.”
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