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Tadious Manyepo in KIGALI, Rwanda
NORMALCY has replaced turbulence in the Warriors camp ahead of their bumper 2026 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria at Huye Stadium tomorrow.
There was a stand-off between the players and ZIFA on Thursday afternoon with the Warriors refusing to train demanding their dues.
But they were in a jovial mood at yesterday’s training session after ZIFA deposited their money late on Thursday.
And they are optimistic of getting a positive result against the African powerhouses tomorrow.
Zimbabwe posted a goalless draw against Rwanda in their opening game of the campaign after exactly 670 days without action due to a FIFA suspension.
And with the Super Eagles failing to beat minnows Lesotho in their own opener on Thursday, the Warriors, who will be the home team will be hoping to take something out this match.
This is the first time Zimbabwe will host an opponent outside their home territory.
Co-captain of the squad, midfielder Marshal Munetsi believes Zimbabwe stand a very good chance to post a positive result against Nigeria.
“It’s going to be a good challenge against Nigeria and I’m sure it will be a game of fine margins.
“They played yesterday (Thursday) and didn’t have much time to recover so we can use that to our advantage.
“Obviously the team has big name players but even then if they don’t have time to recover and all the travels it might be difficult for them to adjust. We just need to be confident and have a good game plan for us to get maximum points,” said Munetsi.
“People were expecting a win against Rwanda but they must know that this was the first time we were playing together as a team. Some of us are doing well at our clubs and the supporters obviously expect us to do the same for the national team so we are trying to make sure that we try to get to the standards of winning these kind of games.
“Our supporters need to be patient, we will keep on doing our best to make sure that we try to win the game against Nigeria and ultimately try to qualify for the World Cup”.
Munetsi says the integration of the youngsters called up for the first time is going on smoothly and everything is looking positive.
“I have had some conversations with them. I even spoke to Tivonge Rushesha and told him that when you see a big name player, he started somewhere so you just have to be confident and do well so that you can also reach that level.
“I even gave an example of me that I grew up in Mabvuku but I’m now playing at a good level” Munetsi said.
“To be where I’m right now, it’s all about confidence and implementation of the skills that you have.
“Those big names in Nigeria team, most of them grew up in Nigeria so there is nothing to fear.
“We are here to try our best for the country and once you know that you have millions of people supporting you, you should be confident to play well and get a good result against big teams like Nigeria”.
Brito will have a wide selection pool of players for tomorrow’s game unlike in the first match against Rwanda.
The Highlanders gaffer was forced to select the team from a few individuals who had trained together for some time.
Others like Udinese star Jordan Zemura and Munashe Garan’anga had arrived on the day of the match and he couldn’t risk playing throwing them in.
But he will have all his players at the same level this time around.
Online Reporter