COMMENT: Beyond the AFCON blow, Warriors must still move forward

ZIMBABWE’S exit from the Africa Cup of Nations with a single point from their Group B games is, on the surface, hugely disappointing.

There is no escaping that reality.

Results matter in football and at tournament level, they matter even more.

Yet to stop at the scoreline that emerged from Agadir and Marrakech in Morocco alone is to miss the more important story unfolding within the Warriors camp — one of measurable progress, renewed intent, and the early signs of a team being built rather than improvised.

Since Marian Marinica took over the national team, the Warriors have played five matches and, crucially, scored in every one of them. Across games against Algeria, Qatar, Egypt, Angola and South Africa, Zimbabwe found the net seven times.

At the on-going AFCON itself, the team scored four goals in three matches — a return that signals not just effort but attacking belief. The goals were scored by three different players, Prince Dube, Knowledge Musona and Tawanda Maswanhise with an own goal by a South African defender off a shot by Maswanhise being the other.

This matters because it represents a clear break from what came before.

Prior to Marinica’s appointment, Zimbabwe had endured a deeply concerning run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The Warriors scored just five goals and conceded 12 against opponents such as Lesotho, Benin and Rwanda. More worrying still, the team failed to score in their last four matches before the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) decided to effect the change in technical leadership — narrow 1–0 defeats to Rwanda, Lesotho and Benin, and a goalless draw against South Africa in the now much-referenced Moses Mabhida Stadium match in October last year.

That period was defined by caution, low tempo and an absence of attacking conviction. Goals dried up, confidence ebbed away and the team appeared unsure of its identity.

What has changed under Marinica is not only the numbers, but the intent.

Zimbabwe are now attacking at a higher tempo, committing bodies forward, and taking risks that had previously been absent from their play. The coach has also made it clear that he wants to see as many available players as possible in competitive conditions.

We are persuaded to agree with the coach.

This is because that approach may come with short-term inconsistency but it is a necessary step in building a squad with depth, options and resilience.

Importantly, Marinica has shown himself to be a strong-willed coach. That is not a weakness — it is an asset. A national team coach must have clarity of vision and the courage to stick to it.

 Zimbabwean football has suffered too often from technical benches that bend under pressure, public sentiment or administrative panic.

His ideas are beginning to make sense when viewed over a longer arc. The game plan built around Tawanda Maswanhise, for example, drew criticism in some quarters, yet the player’s impact when introduced against South Africa underlined exactly what the coach is trying to unlock. That is how football development works — patience, repetition and trust in a system.

This is where ZIFA and Zimbabwe as a nation must resist its most destructive instinct.

Time and again, we have responded to disappointment by sacking coaches, disbanding teams and starting from scratch. We have coined a macabre saying for it, “We are going back to the drawing board.”.

 We saw it before. We have seen the Gabon government disband the national team, sack the coaches and banned two key players after their AFCON performance.

In our case, we are encouraged by the Government’s response to the Warriors, highlighting progress and passion.

This is a positive sign and the football community must not squander this goodwill.  Each reset delays progress and deepens instability. ZIFA must avoid repeating that mistake.

On their part ZIFA could ensure the technical support structure around Marinica is strengthened in line with global trends. All the successful teams at the Nations Cup and World Cup tournaments have more than just one assistant to the head coach.

ZIFA also ought to invest in and embrace proper scientific methods such as the electronic system that evaluates and assesses their performances.

This electronic system will benefit the teams and players with statistics and video footage and it will help ensure there is more merit in squad selections amid allegations that some cartels of player agents always fight to influence squad selection with a bias towards their clients.

What we have now are the makings of a competitive Warriors side. When this core is combined with young players coming through the ranks, Zimbabwe can build a team capable of challenging at the 2027 AFCON in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda — and positioning itself credibly for the 2030 World Cup cycle.

But that future will not arrive by accident.

Football success depends on planning, structure and sustained investment.

There are no quick fixes.

The process that produced Maswanhise did not begin last season. It spans more than a decade — from Leicester City’s development systems to his current growth at Motherwell in Scotland. That pathway only works when development is resourced, protected and trusted.

Zimbabwe must make a deliberate choice: either commit to building and funding clear development pathways or resign itself to reliving the same cycle of heartbreak and hollow consolation. Without patience and planning, we will forever be singing the same old song — “We almost beat them.”

Progress is rarely loud. Sometimes it whispers beneath the noise of disappointment.

The challenge now is whether ZIFA are willing to listen.