Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo-Zimpapers Sports Hub
WARRIORS captain Marvelous Nakamba said getting to finally play in front of the home crowd after five years is a celebration that has to be capped with a win when Zimbabwe face DRC in a 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the National Sports Stadium this evening.
The game is sold out.
The Warriors last played games at the National Sports Stadium against Botswana, Zambia, Ghana, South Africa and Ethiopia in both AFCON and World Cup qualifiers in 2020 and 2021, but limited supporters were allowed to watch those ties due to Covid-19 protocols.
With fans backing them, they last played on March 24, 2019, when they sealed their place at the 2019 AFCON with a 2-0 win over Congo Brazzaville.
The facility was then banned by CAF for failing to meet minimum required standards, and the national squad has been playing home games away from home for the past five years.
And the excitement building up to this evening’s game is unmistakable for a nation that had grown accustomed to watching their beloved Warriors from afar.
Several gems like Tawanda Chirewa and Tawanda Maswanhise have never played a match on home soil and for them, just like for the fans, the time wouldn’t have been ideal.
Zimbabwe are stepping into the second Group E qualifier showdown only four days after staging their greatest comeback story in history, overturning a 2-0 half-time deficit to beat Sierra Leone 3-2 in Morocco.
They are joint top of the group with their opponents, who are however, leading the race on goal difference.
While a win for the Warriors won’t guarantee them a place at the 2027 AFCON finals to be jointly hosted by Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, it will be significant in the context of the qualifiers where the top two teams, out of four, will secure their tickets to East Africa.
And it will be fitting for the occasion, which will officially mark the return of the stadium to the international football arena after a massive facelift, where approximately 31 008 bucket seats were installed, along with electronic turnstiles and other amenities.
Of course, Premier Soccer League side Scottland did audition of the facility when they hosted Eswatini champions Nsingizini Hotspurs in the CAF Champions League a fortnight ago, but the grandest opening will involve the Warriors.
“We know for sure that the match against DRC is a pure celebration, and then, it’s also competition,” said Nakamba.
“As players, we are very excited to play in front of our home fans. I think it’s good for everyone. The players are buzzing in camp, and everyone.
“So most of us, I think we’ve played before, but we have a lot of new players who haven’t played in the National Sports Stadium in front of our own fans.
“I think it will be a really good match, and so against a good opponent – I mean, the DRC, coming from the World Cup, where they captured the imagination of the whole world.
“That means one thing. We don’t have to fully soak ourselves in the celebrations because we need to work hard to sort of put the icing on the cake by winning the match against DRC.
“What we have to do is only to focus on ourselves, to believe in ourselves.”
DRC beat Equatorial Guinea 2-0 in their opening game without really engaging the second gear, but they certainly know Zimbabwe is not a good hunting ground after the Warriors squeezed four points from them the last time they were in the same qualification group in 2019.
But Nakamba knows just how tough DRC is after their recent resurgence that culminated in their strong showing at the 2025 AFCON finals and the 2026 World Cup.
“We need to really focus on ourselves,” added Nakamba.
“We know DRC is a good and strong team. But we have to leave everything on the turf before our fans.
“We surely can’t afford to disappoint our people. Everyone is celebrating the return of international football at home, and it’s now our responsibility to spice that up by getting a positive result against DRC.”
