Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
WARRIORS coach Michael Nees has hinted he will be sticking to his old horses in the run-up to the Africa Cup of Nations to be staged in Morocco from December to early next year.
Zimbabwe will be part of the cast in the North African country, but they have endured a nightmarish qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup going for eight games without a win.
They slid off contention last Friday when they lost 1-0 to Benin in Cote d’Ivoire before finishing the penultimate qualifying window with an identical loss to Rwanda to remain rooted at the bottom of Group C with just four points.
Nees’ men were already in Africa Cup of Nations preparatory mode when they took to the pitch against Rwanda at Orlando in South Africa on Tuesday afternoon, but despite putting on a decent show, they still came short.
The German gaffer handed full debuts to rookies Prosper Padera and Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya who did not disappoint before being hauled off.
Nees knows there won’t be many games the Warriors will play before plunging into the AFCON finals and he could shut the door for new faces in upcoming games.
Talking about the need to minimise experiments, Nees said:
“Look we had today (on Tuesday) again, two young players who we must also congratulate after playing for the senior team for the first time.
“We want to give players a chance, but we could also see that it is still a long way (for them).
“The national team level is a little bit higher than some expect, and we definitely need now to maybe reduce the group and work and stop really, to please everybody by always giving them time or testing. I think there are four or five games, maybe until the AFCON, we have no other game.”
Zimbabwe will play two more World Cup qualifiers against leaders South Africa and Lesotho next month. South Africa with 17 points have a healthy cushion over Nigeria and Benin in Group C and favourites to clinch the sole ticket to North America next year.
At the Nations Cup the Warriors and Bafana will also be in the same group as COSAFA rivals Angola and giants and record seven-time African champions Egypt in Morocco.
And Nees said their opponents at the AFCON will play open football and Zimbabwe needed to be prepared for such.
“Next up will be South Africa, a strong, strong team. We must meet them again in the AFCON.
“The teams we are facing there are not teams which park the bus,” said Nees.
“Definitely the opponents we are facing, Egypt, South Africa and Angola will play a little bit more open game than these teams we’re facing now (in World Cup qualifiers.”
“That you have to work on it. We dominated against Rwanda.
“That’s a good sign. We can really dominate the game completely, like in the second half (against Rwanda). But of course, the finishing, the last touch, we have to improve. If you remember, when I came here, there were two players who I recalled (from international retirement Knowledge Musona and Khama Billiat).
“I think everybody who understands, you need such players, especially when the space gets tighter and tighter, who can make a difference in such situations.
“We hope that everybody, not only him, will be available going forward.”
“We don’t want to be on New Year’s Eve on the plane back home (from AFCON). We want to compete and go to the next round.”
