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Zimbabwean sport followers deserve a break from the doom and gloom that frequently follows major tournaments.A�
How we wish there could be some sport that we could point to and show that we can also be winners.A� Just recently we rallied our cricket troops in these pages, urging them to come to the party and lift our national flag high.
Alas, they flattered only to deceive when push came to shove.A� The aftermath of that nearly story of grand proportion has been the usual blame game and refusal to take responsibility for failure by those in positions of authority.
We believe it is more honourable to admit failure, and in some instances, even step down instead of spouting insincere apologies to the nation.A� While we applaud Zimbabwe for being such a good host, and congratulate the qualifying teams, including the ones that did not qualify for the World Cup but returned home to a heroa��s welcome following their qualification for Test status, the likes of Nepal, we believe it is time for the Zimbabwe team to ask itself some hard questions and give honest answers.
It is our hope that the players were adequately prepared, and we have reason to believe they were given optimal support in the run-up to the qualifiers with some of their performances quite an indication of some hard work put in during training.
Going forward, cricket authorities need to review their strategies and right the wrongs that got us knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers.A� Before we had even settled down in our seats and drowned our sorrows, our senior national soccer team went to a four-team invitational tournament in Zambia, where it came back empty handed, losing all its matches.
The issue of poor preparation is a perennial one, and it would appear a change in Zifa leadership has not had any impact on that problem since we continue to sing the same song we sang years ago.A� We will not always win all the games that we play but we also should not lose all the games that we take part in.
If we perform poorly it becomes difficult for the national team to get competitive friendlies as other teams may feel playing the Warriors would not add any value to them in terms of their preparations.
Elsewhere in this issue we have the story of the Mighty Warriors that are also preparing for a tournament.A� Already, complaints from the coaching staff have been that they wished they could get more time with the team and play friendly matches to gauge their strength against competitive sides.
We believe this is what other countries are doing right now though our girls are then expected to perform miracles and eclipse the better prepared sides. Sport is a growing industry from which millions earn their livelihood and we need to show that seriousness in the manner we handle it.
In the meantime, we wait patiently for a sporting code that will buck the trend and bring some cheer to the despairing Zimbabwean sport lovers.A�A� We believe we have the talent since many countries have been importing our talent right across disciplines.A� Let us find that missing link before the fans go missing. .
Online Reporter