adminZIMBABWE senior men national team will face Sihlangu of Swaziland on Good Friday and Easter Monday in back to back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers that our dear Warriors need to grind the best possible result.
These two matches come hard on the heels of the match fixing furore that plunged the game of football in the country into turmoil as fears mounted that the matches against Swaziland would not yield the desired results.
Now that the match fixing issue is no longer as topical as it was in recent weeks, every other progressive and patriotic citizen hopes that the boys will do us proud.
That we need to put behind the blame game that characterised the match fixing hullabaloo and come together as brothers and sisters of one great nation, is a fact that needs no emphasis.
When the Warriors win we celebrate as a nation and when they lose, we grieve as a nation hence it is a case of national pride than anything else.
Individual interests that include accumulation of wealth at the expense of the name of Zimbabwe can never be tolerated at this juncture.
After all, Zimbabwe is a soccer crazy nation that has always wanted the best from its representative national team though results have not been what many expected.
There is no doubt among many soccer pundits that coach Calisto Pasuwa and his backroom staff have managed to select the best at their disposal hence the expectation of better results in these two matches.
On numerous occasions, the National Sports Stadium or Rufaro stadium has been filled to the rafters by expectant crowds, only to go home after the final whistle in sorrow.
Now that there is a promising Afcon qualifying campaign that started with that impressive triumph in Malawi and a somewhat disturbing draw against Guinea at home, Zimbabwean across the political and religious divide are pinning their hopes for yet another Afcon qualification on this campaign.
It is well understood that there are no longer small teams in today’s international football and more importantly Swaziland are no mere pushovers, as we used to think of them in the past, but all the same the nation expects Calisto Pasuwa’s men to snatch all the six points and place the nation on top of the log table.
Issues to do with player incentives and bonuses have always rocked camp ahead of crucial matches many a times and one hopes that this will not be same story once again. It is common fact that players just like any of us have got families and bellies to feed but it is also equally factual that national pride comes first and everything else follows.
Unlike in the past, current Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa has done considerably well in this front since assuming administration leadership of the country most followed sport hence players and their coaches also need to play their part in restoring the national pride in football.
Time for us to prove we are a real warrior has come. Time has come for us to do away the ghost that has haunted our game at this stage of international competitions. Indeed time has come for us to be a force to reckon with just like we used to in the good old days.
All we can say is, Go Warriors Go!
Online Reporter