adminGorowa attended the draw conducted by the Confederation of African Football in Johannesburg on Thursday night and said he had no regrets about Zimbabwe’s pairing with Angola which has set up a Southern African derby clash between the two Cosafa rivals.
The former Zimbabwe, Dynamos and Black Rhinos striker said the Warriors had to brace for even tougher challenges if they were to compete with some of Africa’s best teams.
Gorowa, who had a brief flirtation as Sundowns coach before he was reassigned to the post of chief scout, said the Warriors, who of late have been struggling with their game, now needed to be more focused on the home and away assignments against Angola and keep in mind that victory over the 180 minutes of action would book them a ticket to the Nations Cup jamboree.
The Warriors will start their final onslaught for a place at the 2013 Nations Cup finals with a home assignment with the first leg scheduled for Harare on September 9.
Zimbawe would then travel to Luanda on the weekend of October 12-14. There is strong enthusiasm too among Zimbabweans at home and in South Africa that the Warriors could make it among the last 16 teams at next year’s finals if the national game ends the off-field bickering that has left the country’s biggest sport polarized.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart has also bemoaned the off-field politics that has divided the game. There is also a strong a belief that that the Warriors’ presence at a Nations Cup hosted in South Africa could spice up the tournament given the huge presence of Zimbabwean internationals in the South African Premiership.
But that is only if Gumbo’s men really get their act together and play with more conviction and in more convincing fashion. Gorowa, who played against Angola during his time in the Warriors when they were under the guidance of Roy Barreto, and Benedict Moyo believes the Warriors were lucky to escape being paired against even much tougher propositions like West African giants — Cote d’ Ivoire, Cameroon, Nigeria and even 2004 winners Tunisia.
“I think it is very fair draw for us. We cannot complain too much. All we need to do now is keep our focus and ensure we are up for the challenge. Obviously the coach will make his plans and we will see how it goes from here. Of course there no easy games anymore but I think this is better for us to be quite honest,’’ said Gorowa.
Coach Gumbo also agreed with Gorowa’s sentiment and expressed some relief at avoiding the likes of the Elephants, the Super Eagles or the Carthage Eagles.
“I am not saying Angola are a weak side but I think it could have been trickier against some of the teams from North or West Africa,” said Gumbo.
Gumbo, however, said the Warriors would assume the underdog tag on the basis that they had been drawn from the pot of unseeded teams while the Palancas
Negras, who have been to more Nations Cup competitions compared to Zimbabwe’s two, are higher on the global and African rankings.
It is also against the background that the Warriors have often struggled against such opponents like Ghana, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco and Algeria that both Gorowa and Gumbo felt being drawn against Angola was more favourable for the senior tem.
But the Palancas Negras with a host of stars playing in the Portuguese and other European leagues, including former Manchester United forward Manucho, will still provide another stern test of the Warriors’ pedigree to be among the cream of Africa that will converge in South Africa next January.
I think there were even tougher pairings in this draw like the one between Algeria and Libya, Liberia and Nigeria and the game between Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal . . . those will also be big games.
“We could have been drawn against any of these teams too,’’ Gumbo said.
Online Reporter