‘The Warriors made us proud’

Sunday when the Warriors produced such a good performance to beat Liberia 3-0.
Zimbabweans are known to be a very critical people, whether its politics, economy or sport, but on Sunday, the armchair critics or amateur coaches, were silenced by what they saw, especially in the first half.
At our sports club, word went around that the player who engineered the first goal on the left flank was (Ovidy) Karuru.
Each time any player played well the chorus went “Karuru”.
The problem is that, in some international matches players do not have names on their shirts, so it was difficult to tell most of the time, who was with the ball.
Although we watched the match in the comfort of our club house, on a giant screen, we were delighted to see the spectators at the stadium, enjoying every minute of the action from the stands.
The camera work by ZTV was excellent.
But what I learnt from the match, and I am sure other people would agree, is that our players have developed skills on the football pitch that have made us proud.
Each time they passed the halfway line, racing to the Liberian goal, we literally stood up expecting some goal mouth action.
The players did not disappoint us on that score. The thrills we enjoyed of goalmouth action would have sent some home bursting with delight. The major question everybody has been asking is whether this crop of players can take us to the African Nations finals by winning away to Cape Verde?
The only problem is that Zimbabwe is a land-locked country otherwise many spectators would have boarded ships and sailed for days to be there to watch the match.
Unfortunately, with Air Zimbabwe always paralysed by striking pilots, we may just resign to hold our breath if the match is televised. The whole country would be on edge of their seats for the 90 plus minutes of the match. But many believe that victory can be snatched away from home.
While we are basking from this wonderful performance from Norman Mapeza’s boys, many amateur coaches saw how the victory came about. It was from the flanks.
Players made a beeline down the flanks and crossed balls either on the ground or in the air to score the three goals.
What was missing was probably a play maker in the centre of the midfield.
Like I have said, many of us are just amateur coaches who week after week are treated to English Premiership football where we see various formations of our favourite teams.
Of course, you can only play as the other teams allow you to. Coaches have a difficult task. They know the type of players they have and what they are capable of; what we the armchair coaches may not know and appreciate. All the same, a good result is a good result no matter how it was engineered.
Will this joy, so full in our hearts, be sustained by these players?
The answer is yes.
The confidence and mental toughness these players have shown will sustain them until final victory. There is no going back but only forward. How can we help the team?
We must not be just armchair supporters.
We should start fundraising for team now. I propose that every supporter could contribute US$10 or more towards the last campaign for the team.