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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Warriors coach Joey Antipas says Zimbabwe should brace for a tough return to international football after the senior national football team was drawn to play neighbours South Africa and continental powerhouses Nigeria in the upcoming FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The draw was conducted in Ivory Coast yesterday, just hours after the 45th CAF General Assembly which was also attended by CAF president Patrice Motsepe and FIFA president, Gianni Infantino.
Zimbabwe, who have just returned to international football following the lifting of the 17-month suspension by FIFA this week, were drawn in Group C along with neighbours South Africa, Nigeria, Lesotho, Rwanda and Benin.
Considering the background of the FIFA suspension, Antipas yesterday said Zimbabwe could find it difficult to compete especially against the Nigerians and South Africans, who are already preparing for the 2023 AFCON finals to be held in Ivory Coast early next year.
The World Cup qualifier games are scheduled to begin in November.
“Of course it doesn’t take 48 hours to assemble a team. But after all these months without exposure to international football, the team is as good as starting from scratch.
“Some of the guys who were key members have since retired while the others are no longer at the same level they were two years ago.
“So a lot of work will be needed, to be honest. It will be difficult for whoever is going to be the coach to try and pull through to the World Cup from this group.
“Remember only one team will make it out of the six. Just a quick look at our opponents: Nigeria have been doing well of late, the same with South Africa and both teams have qualified for the 2023 AFCON.
“They have the momentum and these two are going to be the tricky customers for us, not saying that the other teams in the group are not competitive. But like I said, only one will go to the World Cup from the group, so it’s not going to be easy for us,” said Antipas.
A total of 54 African nations were involved in the draw yesterday and will compete for the available 9.5 allocated spots for Africa, with the qualifiers officially starting in November.
As in previous qualifiers, the draw produced some interesting outcomes for the nations, who were split into nine groups of six as the journey to Canada, Mexico and USA gets underway in the next few months.
Winners of each Group will automatically qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The four best runners-up (from the Groups) will play in a CAF Play-Off tournament. The winner of the CAF Play-Off Tournament will play in the FIFA Play-off Tournament to potentially be the 10th African nation.
Antipas said Zimbabwe needed to prepare well. He also said the technical team that will be tasked with the duty to lead the team would need to cast their nets far and wide to raise a competitive team.
“ZIFA should arrange as many friendly games as possible because you cannot just go to war without testing yourself. They must also facilitate for a bigger pool of players for the coaches to choose from.
“We used to have a good network of players in South Africa but that is no longer the case. So the hope now is to spread the nets and look further to the diaspora.
“We have got a good crop of youngsters that is coming up in Europe. Try to get them to play for their mother country. It may be difficult to integrate at first but in the long run it could pay dividends.
“We can also look at the local players but the local guys are not performing the way they used to,” said Antipas.
He also said the issue of stadiums should be solved as a matter of urgency. Zimbabwe currently does not have a facility to host international matches after all the stadiums were condemned by CAF.
However, there has been slow progress at the National Sports Stadium and it is not clear if it will be available by November.
“I don’t know the situation about the venue but we might end up playing in a neighbouring country. This issue should be addressed as a matter of urgency because it may also affect results. The team has to play in front of home supporters.”
Online Reporter