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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
WARRIORS’ team manager, Wellington Mpandare, says they are praying to avoid hosts Cameroon, when the draw for the 2021 AFCON finals, is conducted in Yaounde tonight.
Mpandare was part of the Zimbabwe technical crew when the Warriors were paired against hosts Egypt at the last Nations Cup finals.
The Warriors being represented by ZIFA president, Felton Kamambo, and Mpandare, who is the national teams’ general manager.
“To me, it does not really change anything, whether you are in Pot 4 or Pot 3,” said Mpandare. “It all depends on the day and remember these games will be played in a neutral environment so no team can claim to be favourites to go through.
“But, obviously, Cameroon as host nation, will have everyone rallying behind them, including their vociferous supporters.
“That’s the team I think Zimbabwe should avoid. We saw what happened in Egypt, we played very well against the hosts but at the end of the day, the 12th player had a big part in our defeat.
“They were very noisy and rallied behind the team throughout. Of course, our players did very well but it was always going to be difficult winning against Egypt.
“The same thing could happen with teams that play Cameroon. We wouldn’t want to be in the same group with them, since they are at home, just about everyone would want the host country to progress.
“But, suppose we are drawn against Cameroon, they can go through and we can still go through because if you look at the qualification format, the top two teams qualify directly, for the next stage, and then the four best third-placed teams also qualify.
“So, we have a chance, in whichever group we are placed to qualify as first, second or third.’’
Zimbabwe, who are set to make a fifth appearance at the tournament, will be keeping their fingers crossed as the 24 participating teams are divided into six groups of four teams each, for the finals.
The teams are in four pots of six teams each, for the draw, based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
Pot 1 has hosts Cameroon, Algeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. Egypt headline Pot 2 which also has Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.
Zimbabwe will face at least two of these 12 giants.
The Warriors are joined in Pot 3 by Cape Verde, Gabon, Mauritania, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau.
These are the only teams Zimbabwe are guaranteed they will not play.
Pot 4 has Malawi, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Comoros, Ethiopia and Gambia.
“In Cameroon, people are excited and looking forward to the draw and the tournament itself. This is a football-crazy nation and they can’t wait for the draw.
“They are so excited, especially with the World Cup qualifiers coming where they play Malawi, and they feel it’s a weak team. They have so much confidence and feel they can beat any team.
“But, there are no weak teams these days.”
The pre-tournament formalities kicked off at the weekend when Mpandare joined his counterparts in a day-long Team Managers’ workshop meant to equip the logistics personnel with skills to ensure the smooth running of the tournament. The delegations from all the participating countries are expected to tour the facilities in Cameroon tomorrow to get an appreciation on the progress made by the Local Organising Committee.
“The workshop was very useful. This is where we discuss the venues, the distance from the hotels to the match venues and to the training pitches.
“We also got updates on the progress on the match venues, some of which have not been completed. We also talked about the transportation because some of the matches will not be played in Yaoundé.
“They will be played in different cities.
“We need to be equipped for the challenges like transportation. For instance, in Limbe, it will take about one hour to get to the stadium.
Those are some of the challenges that were discussed, in the meetings, and also a lot of stuff like the accreditation of the journalists, branding, security etc.
“Obviously, after the draw, we will go to the respective towns, where the teams will be based, to have a physical assessment of the pitch, the hotel and training pitches, as well.
Online Reporter