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The senior national team is on the road this week for a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Guinea in Conakry.
The Warriors are expected to leave tomorrow as they look for solutions to their woeful performance in their last game which they lost to the Pharaohs 2-4 at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Zimbabwe currently anchor the table with a single point from four starts while Egypt have edged closer to their World Cup dream by maintaining a five-point lead at the top of Group G with just two games remaining.
The North Africans have a 100 percent winning record in the group and are on 12 points with Guinea, who thrashed Mozambique 6-1 on Sunday, following in second place and have seven points to their credit.
Ndlovu conceded the Warriors came terribly short in front of the home crowd as they virtually gifted the Egyptians maximum points because of the numerous errors and failure to co-ordinate their game plan.
Zimbabwe could not repeat the fighting spirit they exhibited in Alexandria in the first leg in March in a battling 1-2 loss.
The Warriors, who are undergoing a rebuilding exercise under German coach Klaus Dieter Pagels, failed to stamp their authority on home turf as they could not challenge the Egyptians in all departments.
They looked hapless in the opposition territory and vulnerable at the back, with virtually all goals coming as a direct result of poor marking.
Egypt kept their composure as they seized control of the game as early as the fifth minute when they got their first goal through veteran midfielder Mohamed Aboutrika.
“It’s difficult to understand,” said Ndlovu.
“We disappointed our fans. If we had got beaten with hard work from Egypt we could have just accepted that but, I think, we gave away the game by making silly mistakes. We should have done better as a team.
“We take the blame as the technical team but the message was clear to the players to go and do simple things, of which we didn’t apply ourselves right.
“We gave them the platform to play. They didn’t work for their goals. It was something that any player could have marked the opponents but lack of concentration and maybe the application. We didn’t do it properly.
“So we take the blame, we disappointed the fans, we are sorry but we are still rebuilding.
“When we had the ball we looked like a decent team but when we gave away the ball it was so bad.
Hopefully we can learn from what we have gone through.
“They taught us a lesson in punishing the people for their own mistakes but that’s what you get if you don’t apply yourself right. We will learn from that.”
Zimbabwe were brutally exposed, especially at the back, where goalkeeper Washington Arubi was left exposed, on numerous occasions, by his defenders.
Egypt’s hattrick hero Mohamed Salah, who was the destroyer-in-chief with his darting runs and good eye for goal, had a field day on the wings where the fullbacks played too deep in enemy zone leaving the speedy FC Basel forward with acres of space to engineer victory for his side.
The twin centrebacks Lincoln Zvasiya and Felix Chindungwe looked uneasy in their roles as they found it difficult to cope with the pace of the rivals.
For some time during and after the game Zimbabwe’s “tiki-taka” type of play came under scrutiny but in the end it all looks like Pagels’ philosophy of building from the back and passing the ball around is a good, modern technique which might come to be effective with time.
The players are struggling with the implementation as they made many errors and gave away possession unnecessarily against Egypt.
The Warriors were also too soft on their opponents and they chased the ball for longer periods in the middle of the park despite the commendable industry of Tafadzwa Rusike and Devon Chafa, who had their good moments.
But second-half substitute Denver Mukamba failed to raise the momentum following his introduction and his ineffectiveness meant that Zimbabwe had to cope with the pressure.
The visitors, although not the best Egypt side in recent years, looked like they had done their home work after the first leg in March.
Zimbabwe’s strikers, for the most part of the game, were yearning for clean balls and they had a couple of chances which went begging.
However, amid the gloom, German-based forward Knowledge Musona remains a beacon of hope.
Musona, who scored Zimbabwe’s only goal in the 2-1 first leg defeat, was on target for the Warriors again as he helped reduce the arrears with a brilliant chip from a pass by Tafadzwa Rusike.
His strike partner Cuthbert Malajila was not at his usual best but his work rate upfront was a plus for Zimbabwe.
With the World Cup dream over, Zimbabwe can now hope to play their remaining matches against Guinea and Mozambique for national pride and use the games as a platform to enhance their rebuilding programme.
“We don’t want to stop here. We still want to run our marathon and reach the finishing line,” said Ndlovu.
“Things did not work well for us but we still want to complete our mission in fulfilling the fixtures and set the plan for the future.”
Online Reporter