adminWhile Botswana beat heavyweights like Tunisia to qualify for the tournament for the first time in 2012, Cape Verde also made it in similar stunning fashion, beating Cameroon in the last hurdle to book a place to Mzansi. The Indomitable Lions are one of the heavyweights of African football and no one ever imagined that they would be stopped by little Cape Verde, who have only 23 registered football clubs.
In as much as the Cameroonians were expected to sail through to the tournament, Zimbabwe were also expected to finish off the job in Luanda on Sunday and book a ticket to South Africa. Of course, Angola are not a small football nation by any stretch of imagination, but the Warriors were in a better position to stop them from going to the tournament by virtue of carrying a 3-1 cushion from the first leg played at Rufaro.
But the cushion was easily swept aside by a Manucho tide in the opening six minutes of the game, as the Spain-based striker positioned himself well in the box to win two crucial free headers that gave his nation two goals that mattered most.
Football is the number one sport in the country and there is no doubt that all Zimbabweans were disappointed by the result, and at this juncture, Zifa officials, coaches and players must not expect a smile from anyone — frowns will be the order of the day until the dust settles.
While we appreciate that in sport, you cannot win every day, we are saddened by the manner in which the country’s number one team, Warriors, collapsed on the final hurdle after raising the hopes of the nation so high.
We are also saddened by the fact that the team had received a lot of financial assistance from a number of companies and individuals with the fundraising committee set up by Zifa, Mzansi90, raising $524 000 in two weeks to make sure the boys had every material thing required to bring back home a good result. In addition to the $10 000 winning bonuses promised by Mzansi90, the Government also promised each player a residential stand at an upmarket suburb in Harare, something which was unprecedented.
We are also saddened by that a plane was chartered at a cost of $180 000 to carry the team, officials, media and supporters to Angola, in a bid to show the boys that the whole nation was behind them, but the players failed to compensate for all that support as they failed to rise to the occasion, thereby joining the list of African football bridesmaids.
The question that everyone is asking is “what went wrong in Luanda?”, and sadly, no one seems to have a satisfactory answer. The coach, Rahman Gumbo, has said the contest was lost in Harare when they conceded the away goal, which won the ticket for Angola. He also said his players failed to contain the Angolans in the opening stages of the match, resulting in them scoring twice inside six minutes.
There have also been questions about Gumbo’s pedigree as a coach at such a high level and it still remains to be seen if he can take the Warriors to the next level, just like what Sunday Chidzambwa and Charles Mhlauri did when the Warriors qualified for the 2004 and 2006 Afcon finals respectively. Coincidentally, Gumbo was assistant to Chidzambwa and also took charge of a number of games before being replaced by Mhlauri in the run up to the 2004 tournament, hence the high expectations from him, more so, after winning the league twice with Highlanders and winning one in Malawi and Botswana as well.
The national association has also come under fire for failing to initiate a culture of winning among the national teams through development of the game from grassroots level. The majority of African countries that have done well teach their players “proper” football from a tender age.
There have also been questions as to the rationale of bringing all players cleared of match-fixing last week into the national team camp, resulting in the coaches having 31 players to work with inside one week.
Despite all the money that Zifa president Cuthbert Dube has poured into football, his success and failure will be judged by how the senior national team plays in the international stage and the sooner he makes sure the Warriors are better prepared and equipped to make it to the 2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup and 2015 Caf Afcon finals the better.
The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture has blamed the failure of the Warriors to poor administration of the game and we believe the powers that be at Zifa should look themselves in the mirror and do some soul-searching as to what good they have done to Zimbabwe since assuming office.
The other question that people want answered is “where to from here?” It is a tricky question that needs more than the “we are going back to the drawing board” kind of rhetoric.
Zifa must come up with a three-year plan that will take us to the next Afcon finals and have to continue harnessing support for the national team if ever they are to succeed.
Moreover, there are a number of players in the national team who are over the hill and it’s time to build a new-look Warriors around enterprising players like Khama Billiat, Archford Gutu, Ariel Sibanda, Denver Mukamba and Knowledge Musona.
Funding is key to the development of the game and it is important that the national association keeps working closely with the corporate sector and the main sponsors of the senior team, Mbada Diamonds.
It is a pity that every time the national team plays friendly matches, the players used in those games are hardly used in competitive matches and at the end of the day, friendly matches become a waste of time and resources.
It is therefore important that Zifa liaise with sponsors and organise high-profile international friendly matches that will attract foreign-based players and help coaches work on combinations well ahead of competitive matches. The ball is in Zifa’s court to tell the nation how the association plans to move on with life after such a heartbreak in Luanda.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter