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Petros Kausiyo in CAPE TOWN, South Africa
WARRIORS captain Partson Jaure has conceded that his team has heaped the pressure on themselves after slumping to their second draw at the ongoing African Nations Championships at Athlone here last night.The Warriors fired blanks in their opening Group B game against Morocco last Sunday with Jaure’s troops having wasted some good second half chances to settle for a goalless affair against the Atlas Lions.
It was a similar tale last night as Zimbabwe failed to turn their dominance over Uganda into goals and ran out with just a point and no goals from their second assignment.
The goalless draw against Uganda came on the day Fifa released its monthly rankings showing that the Warriors have moved two places up the ladder into 105th while they are in 29th place in Africa.
Despite Chicken Inn winger Kuda Mahachi having virtually created an avenue for himself on the left flank where he kept sending crosses, forwards Simba Sithole, Donald Ngoma and substitute Charles Sibanda took turns to spurn opportunities that came their way with Dynamos forward, Sithole, the chief culprit.
The Warriors just could not find their range even on the occasions that Uganda goalkeeper Benjamin Ochan had been beaten by Mahachi’s deliveries.
By the time Senegalese referee Malang Diedhiou blew to end the match, it dawned on Jaure and his teammates that they had blown yet another golden chance to secure a victory that would have made it easier for them to battle for their passage into the quarter-finals.
Dynamos centre-back Jaure said after the match that the Warriors would now have to fight to qualify “the hard way’’.
“We’re obviously very disappointed with the result. We thought we were the better team but, somehow, we just could not score.
“Of course, we are not conceding at the back but as a team our aim has been to win and everyone in the dressing room is not happy that we still could not win or score a goal after playing so well again,’’ Jaure said.
The defensive pillar, installed the Warriors skipper for this CHAN tournament, however, insisted that they had not dropped their heads and would continue fighting against Burkina Faso in their final match.
“We are not yet completely out but it is just that it has become more difficult now,’’ Jaure said.
His central defensive partner, Eric Chipeta, who last night sat alongside coach Ian Gorowa in the post-match Press conference, also refused to throw in the towel just yet.
“It is disappointing to draw again but we feel we can still improve and score goals. I think we can still make it to the quarter-finals, we just have to win against Burkina Faso and then see what happens on the final day of the group matches,’’ Chipeta said.
The 24 year-old defender also challenged his teammates to step up their act when they face the Stallions in their final group game on Monday.
“Burkina Faso are a very physical side but we have to find a way to beat them and we also have to quicken our pace. We also need to have composure in front of goal because I think that is one of the main things that we have been lacking.
“But as footballers we accept results that come our way and we must not put ourselves under too much pressure because we are not yet out of contention,’’ Chipeta said.
Chipeta maintained that the Warriors had remained motivated despite failing to score their two matches.
“Of course, now it is not all in our hands but we believe God will smile on us and we will finally find a way to score goals,’’ Chipeta said.
While the Warriors were left wondering what they need to do to find the back of the net, the Cranes were celebrating another step closer to their maiden dance with a CHAN quarter-final slot.
The Cranes finished winless in their last appearance at this tournament reserved only for those players who play in the national leagues of their countries.
Uganda coach Milutin “Micho’’ Sredojevic also offered the Warriors some hope insisting that Group B was still wide open and that “Zimbabwe still have the capacity to qualify’’.
“I had predicted a tough game for us and indeed it was a tough game. We had done our scouting and studied Zimbabwe’s game especially their second half performance against Morocco and we knew they would bring a playmaker Muparati.
“They also gave us a lot of problems from the wings where they kept pulling our defenders out of position and forced us to change our formation in the second half and I am glad we did not concede a goal.
“Now we must ensure we do enough recovery and be prepared for the match against Morocco because this group is still very wide open and it will go to the wire but I must reiterate that is very difficult to play Zimbabwe from open play because they always have three players coming at you,’’ Micho said.
But it has been a case of history repeating itself so far for the Warriors who finished unbeaten at the inaugural CHAN tournament in Cote d’Ivoire but their three draws against Libya, DRC and Ghana were not good enough to send Sunday Chidzambwa’s men through to the quarter-finals.
Online Reporter