A DATE WITH GERMANS

Sports Reporter

ON August 3, 2016, the Mighty Warriors lined up against eight-time European champions, Germany, in an historic Olympic Games group game in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

For the Zimbabweans, it was their first taste of football at such a high level and the beauty of it all was that it was coming in the country which, more than any in the world, is associated with football.

The Mighty Warriors were no match against the battle-hardened Germans but, by half-time, they had only restricted their opponents to a two-goal lead.

And, when Kuda Basopo scored for the minnows, to make the score 2-1 in favour of the Europeans, the whole world appeared to celebrate with the Zimbabweans.

However, normal service was soon restored and by the end of the match, the Germans had stormed to a comprehensive 6-1 victory.

The Mighty Warriors would go on to lose their next two group games against Canada (3-1) and Australia 6-1.

Amazingly, Shadreck Mlauzi’s troops would score in each of their three games.

The Zimbabweans’ graphic was rising, after all, they had managed to be one of the just TWO African teams to take part at the Olympics in Brazil.

Old rivals, Bafana Bafana, were the other in what was an impressive flexing of muscles, by the Southern African nations.

To qualify for the Olympics, the Mighty Warriors had beaten Zambia, on the away goals rule, and eliminated Cameroon.

Fast forward to SIX years later and the country’s senior national football team has disappeared from the big stage and has now been reduced into a punching bag by administrators at ZIFA who never believed in them.

An embarrassing boycott of their home Olympic Games qualifier against Zambia, in the race for a place at the 2020 Summer Games, provided the illustration of the man-made challenges, which were destroying the team.

The Mighty Warriors’ decision to boycott that match was a result of the failure by the ZIFA bosses to honour the financial payments, which they were supposed to receive.

It was a culmination of a lengthy period in which they had been promised a number of things, including residential stands, for their heroics to qualify for the Olympics, which were never delivered.

Even the phones, which they were promised, and were handed out by the sponsors of the Olympics, were not given to many of the players.

While the Mighty Warriors graph has been taking a beating, nosediving in spectacular fashion, which has now seen them losing to teams like Botswana, who used to be easy prey for them, their opponents have been flying.

At the recent AWCON finals, the tournament was dominated by Southern African teams with Banyana Banyana emerging as the winners while the Zambians took home the bronze medal.

Those are the signs of progress.

The same Germans, which the Mighty Warriors took on in Sao Paulo, six years ago, took part in the final of the Euro Championships, which ended at Wembley on Sunday.

The Germans might have lost the match, going down 1-2 to the hosts, but they showed that they are still a force to reckon with.

They conceded just one goal, scored by an opponent, at the tournament, with the goal coming in the final itself, when England took the lead.

The Germans can also point to the absence of their leading forward, Alexandra Popp, who was ruled out of the final, because of an injury.

Popp finished with six goals at the tournament, the same as Beath Mead of England, who won the Golden Boot, courtesy of providing more assists (three).

It’s the same Popp who, six years ago, scored the Germans’ second goal, against the Mighty Warriors.

The final on Sunday attracted a television audience of about 20 million in the United Kingdom alone.

It was watched by a record 87 192 fans, the biggest number ever to watch a Euro final, for both men and women.

It shows women’s football is on the rise.

Sadly, the same cannot be said about the Mighty Warriors.