Vusumuzi Dube
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
AS his team battles against time to be ready for next month’s Region 5 Games in Maseru, Lesotho, Zimbabwe national Under-17 boys coach Tafadzwa Mashiri is delighted with his side’s entry.
Zimbabwe were not in the original draw made in Lesotho last month, but after a late request to participate was received from the country’s football association. Cosafa acceded to that request, which has paved way for the Zimbabwean boys and girls to take part.
This decision was based on the fact that it would be counterproductive for Cosafa to withhold opportunities for young players when the organisation’s mandate is to help with the development of the game in the region.
Mashiri is delighted with his team’s entry, even if it means there is a race against time to be ready. “We are excited that we are now going to participate in the tournament,” he was quoted by The Herald. “But in terms of preparations, I think we are behind schedule because there was no football taking place in the country for over a year.
“We need to hit the ground running, without wasting more time. The other teams that we will be competing against at the tournament have already started conducting training camps, yet we are still to assemble a side,’’ Mashiri said.
He feels that the competition is vital since it gives Zimbabwean youngsters a chance to showcase their talent.
“We are glad for this opportunity, though. This tournament is very important because it gives our youngsters exposure to international football from a young age. This is also the pool where we draw our national Under-20, and the future national team.”
Zimbabwe will open the competition with a Group A clash against Eswatini on 30 November, before matches against hosts Lesotho (2 December) and Madagascar 5 (December).
“My observation is that the groups are fairly balanced. In football these days there are no big or small teams. The developments at the recent senior Cosafa Cup, where teams like Eswatini went all the way to the bronze medal, show there is potential for any team to do well at the tournament,’’ said Mashiri.
The coach also wants to make up for lost time after his side dropped out of last year’s Cosafa Men’s Under-17 Championship after falling foul of the Confederation of African Football’s eligibility testing for zonal qualifiers.
“Last year, we had a promising start after we played our first game and drew 1-1 with Angola. Unfortunately, we got disqualified because of circumstances that were beyond us. It was very unfortunate but just the feeling of being there was good for the boys,” he said.
For all their prowess as a regional powerhouse, Zimbabwe have only made the final of the Cosafa Men’s Under-17 Championship on one occasion, when they lifted the trophy in 2007.
They lost 5-1 to South Africa in the semifinal though and were beaten 1-0 by Zambia in the bronze-medal match. in 2001, Zimbabwe exited in the first round after a 1-0 loss to South Africa and a 3-2 victory over Namibia and did not compete in 2002.
Zimbabwe’s crowning glory came in the 2007 competition as they topped their pool wins win over Angola (2-1) and Eswatini (3-1), that had followed a 1-1 draw with Namibia.
They defeated Zambia 5-4 on penalties in the semifinals after a 1-1 draw, and then edged South Africa on spot-kicks (4-2 after a 1-1 draw) in the decider.
Zimbabwe did not compete in 2016 and lost all three pool matches in 2017, going down to Mauritius (1-0), Malawi (5-0) and Botswana (2-1).
It was a similar story in 2018 as they lost to Eswatini (3-2), Malawi (5-0) and Angola (2-1), and the team again did not appear in 2019.
It means their last outright win (without penalties) in this competition was 14 years ago in the pool stages against Eswatini (3-1).
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Bongani Ndlovu