admin
Robson Sharuko-Senior Sports Editor
JUST as well, there were no fans, at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
ZIFA had requested to be allowed to have about 10 000 fans, at the giant stadium, to watch the Warriors’ first World Cup group qualifier, in eight years.
The Confederation of African Football, however, turned down that request.
Of course, there are two ways to look at.
One can argue that, if the fans had been there, the energy from the terraces would have inspired the Warriors, to produce a better performance.
That’s a valid argument because footballers tend to feed off the energy, which comes from their fans, in the stands.
But, there is also a risk element involved, when the team is not doing well, as was the case yesterday.
On November 15, 2019, the Warriors fans turned against coach Joey Antipas, bombarding him with all sorts of insults, after a poor show against Botswana, in a 2021 AFCON qualifier.
That match, just like yesterday’s World Cup qualifier, ended goalless.
Although Antipas quickly made amends, four days later, by guiding his men to an impressive 2-1 win over Zambia, in Lusaka, in their next qualifier, the damage inflicted by that fallout, proved too much for the gaffer.
He was replaced by Zdravko Logarusic, two months later, with the Croatian coach completing the marathon, by picking four, out of a possible 12 points, in the next four games, to drag the Warriors past the line.
Loga’s men were beaten in Algeria (1-3), held the Desert Foxes to a draw at home (2-2) before winning their only match, under the gaffer, when they beat Botswana 1-0, in Francistown.
They returned home, for their final AFCON qualifier, against Zambia, and lost 0-2.
And, yesterday, the Warriors got their 2022 World Cup campaign underway, with a dull goalless draw, against an experimental Bafana Bafana side, at the giant stadium.
It was as poor a performance, as the Warriors have produced, on home soil, with their only meaningful effort, at goal, coming from a stinging Khama Billiat drive, in the first half.
It’s very likely that, had the fans been in attendance yesterday, and the team produced the same performance we saw, there would have been a lot of fury from the stands.
Inevitably, poor Loga would have been the target, because the Croat appears to have failed to secure the trust of the fans that he is the right man, to take the Warriors, to the next level.
This was probably captured in the remarks by former Warriors’ forward, Alois Bunjira, ahead of the match, who said his only worry was the Croatian gaffer.
“At the end of the day, I don’t trust the Zimbabwe coach, so I don’t have my hopes too high,” Bunjira told KickOff.com
“Logarusic has only won one match out of 12 (make it 13 now) since taking over with seven defeats and four draws.
“Of the 12 matches, he has never used the same squad as there are drastic changes, with lots of chopping and changing with him being full of excuses for the bad results.”
Bunjira said he remains baffled as to how the Croatian has kept his job.
“He has already warned the fans that we are in a tough group and should not expect to win. How he has kept his job to this far is a mystery.
“I still haven’t figured out his system.
“Each match is different, but with the same confusion.
“In Shona we have a (proverb) that goes ‘Totenda dzanwa dzaserwa nebenzi’. That is how most people here are taking it.”
Of course, there is an alibi for Loga.
Somehow, he has found himself struggling to field his best possible sides, for one reason or another, and he had about half-a-dozen potential first-team players, missing yesterday.
But, this was a very weak Bafana Bafana side and any team, which the coach threw into battle, featuring Knowledge Musona, Khama Billiat, Marshall Munetsi and Tino Kadewere, should have been good enough to beat them.
After a week, in which all the fears were about a possible implosion, in defence, it was actually the forwards who came short, in yesterday’s encounter.
Somehow, since Loga took over, Billiat simply can’t score.
And, to imagine he had scored twice, in Lusaka, in the last match before the Croatian gaffer was handed the responsibility, of guiding the Warriors, makes it quite interesting.
Whoever coined the phrase ‘’home, sweet home,’’ probably didn’t have the relationship between Loga, and his Warriors in mind.
Yesterday marked the third match, in either a World Cup or AFCON qualifier, which the Croatian gaffer has taken charge of, since he was hired, as the Zimbabwe coach.
He is yet to win any of them.
His report card now reads two draws and one defeat, at the place his Warriors call home, with his men failing to score in two of the matches.
They have now failed to score in two back-to-back home matches, in the World Cup/AFCON qualifiers, after losing 0-2 to Zambia and being held to a goalless draw by South Africa yesterday.
Meanwhile, Ghana took early control of the 2022 World Cup group after beating Ethiopia 1-0 last night.
Mubarak Wakaso scored the only goal of he game in he 35th minute.
It was a hearty performance by the Ethiopians, who will now turn their focus to a home match, against Warriors on Tuesday.
The Black Stars travel to South Africa for a date against Bafana Bafana in their next match.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter