Are Warriors ready for WC war?

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
NEXT Friday, the Warriors play host to South Africa in their opening Group H 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier optimistic of getting a positive result.

Group H also has Ghana and Ethiopia.

Zimbabwe and Ethiopia are the only teams in the group that have never qualified for the global football showpiece.

Warriors’ followers, including fierce critics, believe that the national team has a fair chance of qualifying to the next stage.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic that has brought local sports to a standstill, the nation believes that the Warriors will start off on a bright note.

Messages of encouragement directed at the Warriors have been overwhelming and Zifa hyped the coming World Cup qualifiers by appointing former national team skipper Benjani Mwaruwari as the team’s third assistant coach.

Zifa, which has been under pressure to fire head coach Zdravko Logarusic in the past months, has taken a gamble by bringing on board Mwaruwari, with the hope that his presence will bring a change of fortunes to the squad.

Besides the Mwaruwari “distraction”, the question is; are the Warriors really prepared for the upcoming assignments?

Ghana are highly ranked in Africa at number seven, while Bafana Bafana are 13th, with Ethiopia being the lowest ranked team at 40th.

The Warriors South are 26th, but believe they can spring some surprises.

“Our preparations have not been the best, but we’re not the only country that has been affected by Covid-19. I think we have a squad that can get the job done on a good day and as fans, every time when the Warriors head out to hunt, we’re always confident that they will pin their prey. I think this is a fair group for us and if we believe, we can qualify to the next stage. We need to beat South Africa despite going into the game without playing any friendly match,” said

Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association’s vice-chairman, Carlmax Nkomo.
Sports Leaders Institute of Zimbabwe (SLIZ) president Russell Mhiribidi tipped the Warriors to succeed, saying no one is to blame for lack of friendly matches.

“I think Fifa calendar dates, which would have afforded the Warriors an opportunity to play friendly matches and build combinations were let go because of stringent Covid-19 travelling conditions, as the responsible authorities prioritised safeguarding the health of their citizens. What I know is that in sports, preparations by teams are not always enough and so our Warriors head into the World Cup campaign without satisfactory preparations,” said Mhiribidi.

“Inactivity of the local league has robbed us of surprise call-ups of players from the domestic league. Other countries’ leagues are running and from an administrative side, local players have been denied opportunities to showcase their talents. Now that players based in Britain might not be available for these ties, will you blame the technical team or Zifa if we don’t perform?

“I believe the authority that regulates sports (Sports and Recreation Commission) has failed to facilitate for sports because sports leaders are failing to convince powers that be that the sports industry contributes to the country’s GDP,” he said.

Sportscaster Muziwethu Hadebe believes the global football landscape has changed, with camping periods ahead of matches being reduced to less than a week.

“Any national team should be prepared at any time. The landscape in terms of international football has changed, as there’s no longer plenty of time to prepare a team. Half the time when you call up players, I think you should call them, not in terms of their names, but in terms of what they can give you. My assumption is that when they called up this team, the technical team looked at the potential of each and every player, looked at their strengths and what each player can bring to the team,” said Hadebe.

“For example, in the goalkeepers department, they’ve already dealt with Talbert Shumba, so they know his strengths and what he’s capable of. When we went to the Cosafa Cup, they were using Washington Arubi, who they assessed and were happy with him. There shouldn’t be any excuses in terms of preparing the team. There’s also Martin Mapisa, who has been part of the team for a while.

“If you look at the defence, there are players who have been in business before. Look at Teenage Hadebe, he’s assured of the centre-back position. Onismor Bhasera has been playing for Supersport United. Maybe the only area of concern is some players not attached to any team. Otherwise, if you are to build your team around players who have been in the team before, like in the midfield where there are players like Marshal Munetsi, Khama Billiat and Kuda Mahachi, it does help you to prepare your team.”

He said the abilities of captain Knowledge Musona are known and it’s only a question of who will partner him.

However, First Division coach Kudzai Mhandira warned that poor preparations might haunt the Warriors.

“You can get away with poor preparation once or twice and people think it’s fine. I would have loved to see the team prepare more on the Fifa calendar dates by taking the squad to regional countries like Zambia and Tanzania where football is being played so that coaches assess players technically and tactically. Right now, I think the coach is going to enter the lion’s den blindfolded, not knowing what to expect,” said Mhandirira.

He said in future Zifa should send the Warriors coach to watch players in action in their respective leagues instead of relying on reports. – @ZililoR