Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
SUNDAY “Mhofu” Chidzambwa still recalls the tense 24-hour wait that seemed to be an eternity.
It was in July 2003.
The Warriors, who had never qualified for the AFCON finals, were very close to breaking the ice.
But, their fate was not in their hands.
Zimbabwe had punched their weight in search of that ticket to 2004 AFCON held in Tunisia when finishing neck-to-neck in Group F with Mali on 13 points but just short on goal difference.
Their hopes of making it hung on grabbing the only runners-up spot across the qualification groups.
After completing their campaign on a Saturday, the Warriors had to wait for the outcome of the match between Gabon and Sierra Leone in Libreville the following day.
A Sierra Leone win, against a Gabonese side with nothing but pride to play for, would have taken the Leone Stars to Tunisia.
But, it was Gabon who won the game 2-0.
That victory was celebrated more in Harare than in Libreville and, just like that, Zimbabwe were on their way to their first ever AFCON finals.
And, exactly 23 years later Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe will be competing for a place at the AFCON finals.
The two teams meet in Casablanca, Morocco, this evening as they begin their quest to be part of the cast at next year’s edition which will be co-hosted by Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
“Well, I remember the scenario like it happened yesterday,” Chidzambwa said.
“Sierra Leone still have that in mind?
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. You know football is all about who prepares better and who shows the positive attitude during play.
“Football is about who seizes the moments, the key moments in the game, the key phases in the game. That’s what it is all about.
“Obviously, Sierra Leone is not a small fish when it comes to African football given that they started playing the game well before us.”
He added:
“They need to be treated with respect and, obviously, that 2003 scenario can always give the match the extra subplot to burst up.”
Chidzambwa, who also led the Warriors to the 2019 AFCON finals in Egypt, backed the new coach Ramon Catala.
“I think the new coach knows his game. He has picked the best players we have in Zimbabwe.
“These are the best players, I think, and we should give it to him that he picked the best that we have.
“We can only wish him well and it all depends with the philosophy of his game, how he wants the players to play.
“But, I am very confident that we can produce a good result against Sierra Leone.
“It is good that the match is being played in Morocco not in Sierra Leone due to CAF stadium requirements and it is certainly a plus for us because that is a neutral venue.
“The stadiums in Morocco are also very nice and that should be good for the new coach with the type of players he has at his disposal.
“They play good football and that should be good for them playing on those nice pitches.”
The other two teams in Group E, DRC and Equatorial Guinea will face off in the opening pool match two hours before the Warriors game.
