admin
Curtworth Masango-Sports Reporter
Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 2
Zambia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) 2
(Zambia won 6-5 on penalties)
ZIMBABWE’S Young Warriors’ dream of playing at next year’s CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations ended in agonising fashion with the dreaded penalty shoot-out lottery eventually deciding their fate at the COSAFA qualifier in Mozambique yesterday.
The identity of Zimbabwe’s semi-final opponents — Zambia — always meant that this was never going to be an easy fixture at the ABB stadium in Matola, for the Young Warriors.
After all, form has hardly been the determining factor when these two nations meet at any level of the game.
And it did not matter that Zambia sneaked into the semi-finals via a complex calculation for the best runners-up slot from the tournament’s three groups. Young Chipolopolo made the most of their semi-final lifeline by stunning the Young Warriors with two early goals that settled their nerves against a Zimbabwe side that had won Group A on the back of two wins and a draw and conceding just once at that pool stage. Despite going down early on, coach Simon Marange saw his side show their fighting spirit when coming back strongly in the second half to draw level via a Prince Ndlovu brace and force the tie into penalties.
Ndlovu’s double cancelled Zambia’s goals secured in the opening 25 minutes through Mumba Mwila and David Simukonda.
After going toe to toe in the shoot-out, Zimbabwe eventually blew it when missing their first kick of the sudden death.
Despite the defeat, Marange was satisfied by the spirit demonstrated by his charges.
An emotional Marange had nothing but praises for his Young Warriors who had last participated in the COSAFA Under-20 competition in 2020 and missed three editions due to various reasons.
“I am proud of the boys and we thank the football association for giving us this chance to represent the country,” he said.
“For myself as a Zimbabwean, and not just as a coach, I think I am proud of these young men and everyone else should be too.
“They have given everything for the country. They went through blood, sweat, and tears on the pitch and we can only be proud.”
Zambia dominated the first half yesterday, getting the opening goal as early as the eighth-minute lead after Young Warriors goalkeeper Joseph Kaunda parried the ball in the path of the opponent.
Kaunda looked out of all sorts in the first half. He was almost caught off guard after failing to communicate with his defence to deal with a long-searching ball in the 15th minute.
Zambia’s Emmanuel Mwanza almost capitalised from another sloppy defensive mistake from the Young Warriors in the 22nd minute and his shot went wide.
It only took Simukonda three minutes later to score a beauty after a quick overplay that saw him arriving late in the box to slot home the Zambian’s second. With Zimbabwe on the back foot, Marange had to pull out Denzel Mapuwa and introduce Ndlovu at the half-hour mark.
The change did not help much at the time as the Young Warriors went to the breather trailing 2-0.
The introduction of Kennedy Mupomba at the start of the second half brought life into the game with the Young Warriors starting to dictate the pace. Enock Moyo’s attempted shot went wide in the 50th minute.
As Zimbabwe tried to control the game, Tanaka Chirere was taken off for Shawn Mzinde and it did not take long for the Warriors to find their feet.
Zimbabwe pulled one back in the 62nd minute through a beautiful over-head kick by substitute Ndlovu. They needed a three-minute VAR check from the referees to ascertain if the ball had crossed the line and it was given.
Mupomba was then brought down in the box in the 72nd minute to win a penalty for the Young Warriors. Nisbet Muzenda was up for the task as the Young Warriors sought an equaliser. But Muzenda’s effort was saved by goalkeeper Levison Banda and the follow-up clearance fell onto the path of Ndlovu, who completed his brace.
With eight additional minutes winding down on the clock, Michael Kubvedzi was brought in for Kaunda in a tactical substitution as the game headed to the penalty shootout.
“I think it was a very difficult game against a very strong Zambia side,” said Marange.
“It was a game of two halves. They completely dominated the first half. From the analysis that we did, they played differently.
“They were able to find spaces inside the pitch so we had to change it. In the second half, we made a box in the midfield to match the overload that they had and I think we managed to create chances to come back into the game.”
Penalty misses from poster boy Ndlovu and Shawn Mzinde during the shootout then cost the Young Warriors a place in the final and qualification for the AFCON.
CAF will use the AFCON as the qualifying platform for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Chile. Instead, it is Zambia and South Africa who will meet in the final who are going to represent the COSAFA region at the AFCON.
Zambian coach Boyd Mulwanda credited his players for their resilience.
“The boys put up a very good fight. It wasn’t an easy game for us but the good part is that we managed to come out victorious,” said Mulwanda. “It was a tough match and it all goes to the boys. You can see Zimbabwe watched how we were playing and corrected their mistakes and saw them coming back in the game,” he said.
Online Reporter