A letter from the Confederation of African Football (Caf ) dated 1 April 2021 shows that the Warriors captain accumulated three consecutive yellow cards in matches against Zambia and Algeria (back-to-back) which made him ineligible for the clash against Botswana.
It was not immediately clear by the time of going to print last night whether Zifa had received the correspondence regarding the latest setback from the continental soccer mother body.
The development is a big blow for the team which had qualified under difficult circumstances considering most of the regular players had failed to turn up for the match due to varied reasons including COVID-19 concerns and injuries.
Musona eventually led a severely depleted squad to Botswana, but the Warriors defied odds staked against them to edge Botswana 1-0 courtesy of a header by Perfect Chikwende who profited from a rebound after a speculative shot by Musona was parried onto his path by the goalkeeper.
Ironically, Warriors coach Zdravko Logarusic rested Musona and other key players, including Teenage Hadebe for the dead rubber match against Zambia at home on Monday which they lost 2-0, fearing they could pick more cards ahead of the finals which have been moved to January next year.