Mapeza apologises

African Cup of Nations on Saturday night with the Zimbabwe coach describing their final Group A defeat by Cape Verde here as a devastating result.
Mapeza immediately offered his apologies to the nation as the poor Warriors slumped to a 2-1 defeat to bow out of contention for places at the finals to be hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea from January 21 to February 12 next year.

Two quick goals by Cape Verde’s European-based duo of Valdo in the third minute and Ryan Mendes 10 minutes later extinguished the Warriors hopes of dislodging Mali from pole position in Group A.
Knowledge Musona, scoring his fourth goal of this failed campaign via a 68th minute penalty, had given the Warriors hope, but Mapeza’s men could not turn their second half dominance into more goals.
Elsewhere, the Eagles had been restricted to a 2-2 draw by Liberia’s Lone Star in a match that had a dramatic finish in Monrovia, leaving Mapeza to ponder on the possibilities of what might have been had his charges been more alert and avoided a dreadful opening quarter of the game.
Yet the former Monomotapa coach had all week been preaching a gospel of patience and focus insisting during training that the Warriors needed to avoid being careless in the way they went about their job.

But careless is how they started the game as the Warriors took long to settle in the heat of Praia and uncharacteristically gave too much space to Cape Verde which the Blue Sharks gladly accepted and pounced on the errors which the visitors made.
The Warriors appeared to be still literally at the hotel Oasis Atlantico by the time Mauritania referee Lemghaifry Ali got the contest underway at Estadio Da Varzea, as they could have easily found themselves trailing in the first minute were it not for the heroics of veteran goalkeeper Tapuwa Kapini.

For a team that has not been scoring many goals on the road in these qualifiers, trailing 2-0 after just 14 minutes was certainly not what the doctor had ordered and life just became difficult for the Warriors when they found themselves in that sad reality, thanks too to the mistakes by their class leader Method Mwanjali.
How the rest of the defenders were also found at sea, especially for the hosts’ first goal after their defender Gege intercepted Mwanjali’s pass meant for Khama Billiat and released his winger Odair to send a low cross to the near post, should be something for which they would have to answer as they threw all tenets of basic defending through the window.

As he gazed into the skies and seemingly sought some answers, Mapeza admitted the Warriors had lost the plot with their pathetic start to the game noting that it was always going to be difficult coming from behind in such situations when you are the visiting team.
“I think the first two goals made life really difficult for us. We had a terrible first 15 minutes, but from the last 15 minutes of the first half and the whole of the second half we were all over them. I always tell these boys that the first 15 minutes are dangerous, unfortunately we lost our concentration.

“We also blew a lot of the chances that came our way because we could have still gone on to win even though we had conceded two very, very soft goals,” Mapeza said.
In apologising to the nation for his team’s exit, Mapeza maintained his belief in his squad and felt “it’s just unfortunate that they have not qualified, but this is really a good team with a bright future”.
“I think the guys did well . . . there is a bright future for these boys. It’s (the defeat) painful, I feel sorry for the boys, I feel sorry for the entire nation and I really appreciated the support that we got from everyone at home but that’s football at times things do not turn out to be what you have wanted them to be . . . I still feel we could have won this one,” Mapeza said.

The Warriors coach also added his voice to the growing chorus pleading with Zifa to ensure that this class of players be kept intact in view of such assignments like the 2013 Nations Cup qualifiers and the campaign for a place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
His assistant Joey Antipas also lamented their slow start to the game which he felt made all the difference between the Warriors returning home empty-handed and booking a ticket among the 16 finalists the Nations Cup extravaganza.

“We were too slow out of the blocks due to lack of concentration and this is a game where the better team lost.
“We were in total control, but we hurried things when all we needed was composure in front of goal because we created the chances,” Antipas said.
But for all their dominance in the second period and their all out attacking game, the Warriors could also have been punished on the break on a few occasions as slippery Cape Verde winger Odair, who plays for

Stade de Reims, gave Moroka Swallows newboy Gilbert Mapemba and Vusa Nyoni a torrid time on the flanks.
The Blue Sharks thrust faith in their foreign legion that is dotted around Europe with only two local players – Boavista defender Kadu and Sporting Club Praia midfielder Dario who was introduced as a second half substitute – making the team.

It was a similar tale for the Warriors with the team that started the battle being made up of the South Africa-based contingent and the European trio of Ovidy Karuru, Vusa Nyoni and Musona.
Big FC Platinum defender Daniel Veremu, who had played in the 3-0 triumph over Liberia in the penultimate assignment, made way for Thomas Sweswe as Mwanjali’s partner in the heart of defence while

Dynamos hitman Cuthbert Malajila, who came on for Tinashe Nemgomasha, was the only home-based player to take to the field.
Much had been expected of Nyasha Mushekwi on his return after a one-match suspension, but the Mamelodi Sundowns man seemed to melt in the heat of the Atlantic Ocean island while Billiat operated in fits and starts and Mwanjali and his rearguard were guilty of some hesitant defending early on.

The Warriors – who will now join former champions South Africa, Cameroon and Egypt among the notable absentees from next year’s finals – actually came alive following the introduction of Tafadzwa Rusike for Mushekwi in the 59th minute. Now they will join all the previous Warriors sides that failed to add onto the two Nations Cup appearances that Zimbabwe have to show for since Independence in 1980.

Qualified teams after Saturday’s 15 fixtures
Gabon, Equatorial Guinea (co-hosts), Niger, Angola, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia, Zambia, Burkina Faso, and Libya, which is confirmed as one of the two best second place team. The other second best placed team will be decided following matches which were being played yesterday.
Final Group A standings

FINAL LOG