Chronicle Editor
Fungai Muderere, fungai.muderere@bmetro .co.zw
THE Warriors head coach Michael Nees has revealed that the their second from last qualifier match for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament against Kenya, will be played in Polokwane, South Africa.
A few weeks ago, Zimbabwe posted back-to-back wins against Namibia at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg.
In the match which saw Zimbabwe prevail 1-0 over their opponents, Namibia was the home side and opted to play the match in an empty Orlando Stadium with their Football Association (FA) citing lack of funds to hire security personnel.
A few days later, Zimbabwe was the home side at the same facility and in a carnival atmosphere that was provided by fans, mostly Zimbabweans, saw Nees’ charges post a 3-1 victory.
In that Group J clash, the Warriors needed a brace from Walter Musona in the 50th and 61st minutes and a goal courtesy of second half substitute Prince Dube in the 89th minute to ensure that they kept the pressure on table toppers Cameroon, who had beaten Kenya 1-0 in the other group fixture at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda.
Zimbabwe, who now need at least a draw to qualify for Afcon finals, are second in the group with eight points, two less than the Indomitable Lions, Kenya are third on four points and Namibia last without a point.
In an interview with Yvonne Mangunda on the Ollah 7 Podcast, the German gaffer confirmed that they have opted to host Kenya in Polokwane as opposed to Johannesburg where they enjoyed a huge back up from Zimbabweans based in Johannesburg and surrounding areas.
“Basically, we have two shots (playing Kenya and Cameroon) but we will take them one by one. We asked ourselves, what we can do better to be able to perform well against these teams. In our last game we played Namibia in Johannesburg. (Orlando Stadium).
“We said, look, training there was very difficult but the hotel was very good. Johannesburg is a hub, you cannot come at the last minute. Training pitches are always booked, they are overused. I can say there were about three teams using the same pitch for training. There were even about five games for Orlando Pirates at their stadium and we got worried about the improvement of the pitch,” said Nees.
He added: “We saw the need to improve on those areas and our conditions. Orlando Stadium was good when we played that Friday (against Namibia in the first leg). For every training, we needed a police escort and we could spend more time on the bus. We asked ourselves how we can improve on that. We looked around for a Plan B, and we asked how Polokwane is? We inquired, and Polokwane has one of the best pitches in South Africa.”
The iconic Peter Mokaba Stadium and Magazyn Stadium are both located in Polokwane.
Meanwhile, local-based Warriors were yesterday handed a three nil defeat by Eswatini in their 2025 African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifiers first round clash that was played at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown, Botswana.
Zimbabwe, who were under the guidance of Warriors assist coach Takesure Chiragwi, conceded thrice in the first-half to give Eswatini a crucial win ahead of the two teams’ second leg of this fixture scheduled for November 2 at Mbombela Stadium in South Africa.
Only players plying their trades in their domestic leagues are permitted to play in the Chan competition as per Caf’s rules and regulations.
Zimbabwe are returning to the rivalry after being absent from the previous edition because of an international ban.
The Warriors have taken part in the competition five times, with their best act being a fourth place finish achieved at the 2014 finals in South Africa under the guidance of Ian Gorowa. –@FungaiMuderere
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