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Lovemore Dube Sports Editor
Zimbabwe 1-0 Burkina Faso
MASIMBA Mambare scored a second half winner as Zimbabwe edged Burkina Faso to reach the African Nations Championship (Chan) quarter-finals last night.
Under the floodlights at Cape Town’s Athlone Stadium, the former Highlanders midfielder – branded a traitor by the club’s fans for his recent move to bitter rivals Dynamos – turned national hero with Zimbabwe’s first goal in three matches.
Zimbabwe had fired blanks in their opening draws against Uganda and Morocco, but the much coveted midfielder’s giant leap and firm header after 56 minutes kept Ian Gorowa and his men in the tournament as they finished second in their group behind Morocco, who demolished Uganda 3-1.
Zimbabwe will face Mali in the quarter finals after their second-place finish ensured that they avoid facing Nigeria, who eliminated hosts South Africa on Sunday to qualify top in their group.
He was introduced for the first time in the starting 11 as Gorowa rung changes in the must-win encounter. Mambare and Peter “Rio” Moyo had previously sat it out in the opening matches both goalless draws against East and Central Africans Uganda and northerners Morocco.
Zimbabwe went into yesterday evening’s match hard pressed to break the jinx of bowing out in the first round.
Gorowa made a bold decision to include Mambare, How Mine’s Simba Sithole, Charles Sibanda and Moyo in his starting line up. That must have been the right tonic the coach had in his arsenal as the boys put up a gallant performance to write their own piece of history.
But the hero of the evening was definitely Mambare who only a fortnight ago was chastisised and branded a traitor by Highlanders fans. They could not stomach losing him hardly six weeks after he had spoken about his loyalty and love for the black and white army based in Bulawayo.
He had made a bold decision to join a list that includes Silas Ndlovu, Lovemore Ncube, the late Lenny Gwata and Makwinji Soma-Phiri being Highlanders players who had left for the capital to join Dynamos.
His move was feared by many as something that could probably affect him in the Chan tournament.
But yesterday Mambare like all the Warriors on duty decided to left his feet do the talking on the pitch. He ran the width and length of the pitch defending and attacking and when the opportunity came having positioned himself well, he beat the Burkina Faso goalkeeper with a header.
It could have just been any other goal, but it turned out to be the match winner which left the boys’ names engraved in Zimbabwean and Southern Africa soccer folklore.
With South Africa and Mozambique out, Southern Africa was banking on Zimbabwe to do the Cosafa region and Mambare’s heroism united not just Zimbabweans but the region as a whole.
Online Reporter