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Sports Reporter
DESPITE winning their first game against hosts Mozambique and taking control of Group A, Eswatini Under-20 coach Mduduzi Nxumalo is not throwing caution to the wind ahead of the clash with Zimbabwe’s Young Warriors in the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations COSAFA Qualifier today.
Kickoff is 12 noon at the ABB Stadium 2.
Zimbabwe go into the match with their egos bruised after they were denied a win by Botswana in the opening match of the tournament that ended in a 1-1 draw on Thursday.
The Young Warriors need maximum points against Eswatini this afternoon to avoid pressure going into their last group game against the hosts Mozambique on Monday.
Eswatini featured in a high scoring match against the hosts on Thursday and emerged 5-4 winners. The win has boosted their confidence, but their coach Nxumalo cannot afford complacency against Zimbabwe, who are six time winners of this regional tournament.
Nxumalo believes the group is still open as all the teams including Zimbabwe still have good chances of progressing to the semi-finals. Only two teams will progress from the group.
“The group is very tight,” said Nxumalo.
“It’s a difficult one because we are going to play Zimbabwe, a team that we don’t know. Yes, we have watched them a bit, but it’s a team that we don’t know.
“It’s better with Botswana (who they meet in the last group game) because we know them and they know us. So, it’s going to be very difficult, but the three points (in the first game against Mozambique) were important.
“One other thing is that if we are able to score five goals against the hosts it means we are good. But now we need to work on defending.
“I think we need to work on our transition and try to strengthen the midfield and try to control the game in the midfield. I think if we can do that, we can play much better.”
But Zimbabwe need the win more to stay in contention for a place in the last four. The Young Warriors have one point while Eswatini are on three.
The Young Warriors need to make an impact, having last appeared at the tournament in 2020. But they missed scoring opportunities and were punished for defensive lapses in their first match against Botswana.
Bikita Minerals’ Enock Moyo scored the solitary goal for Zimbabwe who had good chances to put the game to bed in the first half before Botswana equalised through their captain Phillip Kaku.
Young Warriors coach Simon Marange would need to address the shortcomings and turn around the fortunes of the team.
The Orlando Pirates youth coach will also need to seriously review his defence after he kept the same rearguard that shipped six goals the last time the Young Warriors featured in international at the Four-Nations tournament in Malawi in April.
“We have to win the next two games if we want to go through. It was going to be good to win the first game but it wasn’t to be,” he said.
Online Reporter