admin
Tadious Manyepo in UYO, Nigeria
Nigeria… (0) 1
Zimbabwe… (0) 1
THE Warriors can no longer be bullied. Not in this age and time.
They are no longer that easy-to-beat sort.
Yes, they might still remain rooted at the base of Group C for which neighbours South Africa have seized control, but the Warriors have shown they are ready to take the battle to the wire.
Although with four points from six games, they cannot top their pool given they are nine behind leaders Bafana Bafana, they will no doubt still have a huge say in the destiny of the Group C qualification ticket as there are four more matches to fulfil.
Last night at Godswill Akpabio Stadium, here they showed the world they have the heart after this brave draw.
The manner in which they fought back, to stab the hearts of the more than 30 000 spectators who packed this venue, after falling behind with 16 minutes still to play wasn’t only heroic but some telling signs of a force in the oven.
Substitute forward Tawanda Chirewa stepped up to tap in the equaliser right at the death.
By that time, Nigeria’s hitman and scorer on the night Victor Osimhen had been substituted for Victor Boniface and seemed keenly awaiting to be hoisted high up as a saviour of a country, whose qualification fate is no longer in their hands.
In fact some pundits had tipped Nigeria to massacre Zimbabwe and given the Super Eagles’ storied dominance of the Warriors over the years.
Bookmakers even placed their winning odds at 1/35 and 1/17 for a draw.
But this is no Mickey Mouse team of amateurs.
They boast of top talent with players spread across the competent leagues across the world.
It could have been a win for the Warriors, with a bit of luck and precision.
But still the point, though not big enough to give them some brighter qualification prospects, was as significant as they get.
That’s probably the biggest point they have picked in a campaign where they have drawn four games including the reverse fixture against Nigeria in Rwanda in November 2023.
The Warriors needed to be tactical, of course, coming against a team of so much attacking talent that had Samuel Chukwueze, Ademola Lookman and Osimhen.
The trio, aided by their 12th man in the stands, were quite a menace in the opening stages of the game.
A 20-minute sustained attack at Zimbabwe’s goal could have seen the Warriors collapsing on any other day.
But their defensive tact, aided by impressive goalkeeper Washington Arubi’s solidity ensured the visitors survived that spell.
There was a moment when it was literally Arubi versus Osimhen with the latter always coming second best.
With just eight minutes on the clock, Arubi dived to his right to deny the lanky Turkish-based Nigerian talisman from a point-blank header that was headed for his right.
Two minutes later Arubi thwarted the striker’s shot on the turn and also stopped Samuel Chikwueze’s follow-up.
At the other end of the field, Walter Musona should have opened the scoring when outsprinting the Nigeria rearguard only to shoot wide of Stanley Nwabali’s goal.
The second half was pretty much the same and at one point the hosts were so desperate and trying to shoot even where it was impossible.
The resoluteness of the Warriors was always going to pay them dividends but then everything went up in smoke when Osimhen was left unattended and nodded home the opener from the blind side.
With only a quarter of an hour on the clock, Nigeria thought they had sealed the points to make sure they kept Group C leaders South Africa who are now on 13 points in check.
And if they needed a hint of what was to come, it should have come with three minutes to full time.
A good exchange of passes on the left culminated in the ball falling on the path of on-rushing Knowledge Musona, who was totally unmarked and with Nwabali sprawling on the grass, he needed to just guide it in.
Shockingly, he wasn’t able to measure it up and crashed the underside of the crossbar much to the sigh of the Nigerians, who by then had broken into party mood.
But Chirewa wouldn’t let them off the hook when his quick feet helped him to emerge smarter from an acute angle.
Coach Michael Nees decided to congratulate outgoing Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture Minister Kirsty Coventry first and foremost after the most successful female Olympian in Africa won the IOC presidency last week before saluting his charges.
“We came here with the intention to win. We played well but we could only draw. It’s a big point for us. My boys did very well and with some bit of luck we could have won,” said Nees.
It’s the second time Zimbabwe managed to rescue a point inside five days in the same competition after staging another massive act by coming from a 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Benin at Moses Mabhida in Durban last Thursday.
Teams:
Nigeria:
Stanley Nwabali; Ola Aina, William Troost Ekong, Calvin Bassey, Bright Osayi; Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi (Raphiel Onyenika 78 min) Samuel Chukwueze (Bulu Arokodale 59 min), Moses Simon; Ademola Lookman, Victor Osimehn (Victor Boniface 86 min)
Zimbabwe:
Washington Arubi, Emmanuel Jalai, Divine Lunga, Munashe Garananga, Gerald Takwara, Marshall Munetsi, Andy Rinomhota (Tawanda Maswanhise 84 min), Jordan Zemura, Khama Billiat (Prince Dube 84 min), Knowledge Musona (Terrence Dzvukamanja 62 min), Walter Musona (Tawanda Chirewa 80 min)
Online Reporter