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Robson Sharuko
Editor
THERE was a time, in the past, when a clash between the Warriors and the Crocodiles of Lesotho was just a formality — a one-sided football battle which the Zimbabweans always won.
It was a classic heavyweight versus lightweight contest and the results always confirmed the gulf in class between the two nations.
That is why when Lesotho managed their only win, in a competitive game, over Zimbabwe, on January 14, 2001, at the National Sports Stadium, it produced a tremor of shock across the country.
The Crocodiles won that AFCON qualifier 2-1.
Their only other win, against the Warriors, was a 1-0 victory in Maseru in a friendly international on August 11, 2017.
That this victory, came just seven years ago, will be noted by analysts as another important sign that the gap, which used to exist between the two nations, has narrowed over the years.
They will point to the statistics that, since that stunning Lesotho win, the two teams have played four competitive matches, in the last six years, and the Warriors have won just once.
It was a 3-1 home win over Lesotho, in a CHAN qualifier on September 22, 2019.
The other three matches, another CHAN qualifier and two COSAFA Cup matches, ended in draws.
The two teams meet in a World Cup qualifier in Johannesburg tomorrow and, as fate would have it, they will be marking the 30th anniversary of their battles in competitive matches.
On April 9, 1994, Zimbabwe and Lesotho clashed in their first competitive game, which was a ’96 AFCON qualifier, at the National Sports Stadium.
It was a mismatch with the Warriors powering to a 5-0 victory courtesy of goals from double-scorer Vitalis Takawira and Adam Ndlovu, Kennedy Nagoli and Francis Shonhayi.
That game highlighted the gulf in class which used to exist between the two teams back then.
The five-goal romp made it 14 goals for Zimbabwe in their opening three matches, including two friendly internationals, against Lesotho.
The first two friendly internationals had seen the Warriors thrash the Crocodiles 5-2 on June 9, 1981, and then win 4-1, in the second game, on March 7, 1990.
The two countries have played 16 competitive matches with Zimbabwe winning 10, drawing five and losing only one.
The Warriors have never lost a competitive game against Lesotho, on foreign soil, and their fans will be hoping that will remain the case after tomorrow’s World Cup showdown.
However, as results in the last four matches show, this battle has ceased to be a one-sided show as was the case back when it started, in terms of competitive matches, 30 years ago.
Online Reporter