Zemura Blossoms Into An Indispensable Player For Both Club & Country
Jordan Zemura has suddenly turned into the player every Udinese and Zimbabwe fan has been longing for. His special ability was on display during Zimbabwe’s back-to-back wins against Namibia in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on the 10th and 14th of October and on Saturday in Udinese’s big league match vs Serie A giants AC Milan.
The 24-year-old left-back was a key player in Zimbabwe’s first-leg win against Namibia where he won the penalty that Khama Billiat converted to give the Warriors a 1-0 win at Orlando stadium in South Africa before playing another influential role in the return leg where Zemura was named man of the match after involved in Zimbabwe’s two goals in their 3-1 win over same opponents.
The in-form former Bournemouth rising star was found all over the pitch and it paid off after winning a penalty which Walter Musona converted for Zimbabwe’s second goal and then later on sent in a cut-back cross to set up Prince Dube for the Warriors’ third goal.
Zemura could have recorded another assist after sending a through ball to Tawanda Maswanhise who cleverly beat the goalie for Zimbabwe’s fourth goal but was choked off for offside.
And at the club level, the talented left-back is slowly establishing himself as one of Udinese’s most important players as is proved by his recent performances. He has started in five out of seven appearances in all competitions so far for the club and has started in all last four games for Udinese, which is new compared to last season where he was used sparingly and finished the season outside the team’s first choice.
Now he is proving indispensable and is becoming one of the first names on Kosta Runjaic’s team sheet.
His incredible performance in Udinese’s 3-1 win over Salernitana in the Coppa Italia late last month highlighted his potential as an important player as he played a key role in the win by providing support both in attack and defense.
The biggest test of any talent is whether they can exert a consistent impact in their games and Zemura proved legit as he continued to shine in his second consecutive start against giants Inter Milan by providing an assist in a narrow 3-2 defeat.
As if it’s not enough, the Zimbabwean star produced another top-drawer performance in the team’s follow-up encounter against Lecce where he scored his first goal of the season with a superb freekick as they registered a 1-0 win in a Serie A encounter before heading for the international break.
The game against AC Milan on Saturday proved the full transformation of Zemura into one of the team’s key players as he put on a man-of-the-match performance in the 1-0 defeat which they could’ve drawn had their late equalizer not misjudged for offside.
Zemura looked a threat on the left-back with his overlapping runs into the box providing a 97% pass accuracy rate. After the introduction of Hassan Kamara another explosive left-back for Udinese to boost the attack, the coach couldn’t find a reason to pull out Zemura who was one of the best performers on the pitch instead he switched the Zimbabwean to a right-back position where he continued to harass AC Milan’s defense and dominated possession, again proving his new status of being a versatile and indispensable player to the team.
Zemura has been used as the left-back, right-back, and also an attacking midfielder at Udinese offering coach Runjaic plenty of options and making himself undroppable in the team.
I think it is time Udinese -and Zimbabwe Warriors start to build their teams around Zemura. He has grown into an important player for both club and country.
