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Ishemunyoro Chingwere
Zimbabwe men’s national soccer team coach Kallisto Pasuwa has reminded the country that the Warriors are yet to seal a place at the Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, warning of the danger that Malawi pose ahead of their key qualifier at the National Sports Stadium in Harare next Sunday.
The Warriors are in pole position with eight points in Group L, three better than Guinea and Swaziland.
They can book a place at Africa’s top football tournament with a win over Malawi, coupled with Guinea drawing or falling to Swaziland in Mbabane.
Pasuwa’s men can also go through by choosing to ignore results elsewhere and beat Malawi at home and then avoid defeat in their last qualifier in Guinea.
With such encouraging scenarios and the manner in which they made easy work of Swaziland with a 4-0 destruction, many are backing Pasuwa to join Sunday Chidzambwa (Tunisia 2004) and Charles Mhlauri (Egypt 2006) as the only coaches to take Zimbabwe to the Afcon proper.
It is against this background that a cautious Pasuwa told this publication on the sidelines of a Press conference, where he announced his squads for the Afcon qualifier and Cosafa tournament, that a lot still needed doing to avoid disappointment at the 11th hour.
“Some people are already saying we are in but in reality, we haven’t qualified as yet,” warned the Warriors mentor. “(Malawi) is a key match in our quest for qualification and we need to take it seriously.
“Malawi are on a revenge mission after we humiliated them in their own backyard (in their opening qualifier) and would want to prove a point here. They are a formidable opponent and not push overs as some might think. Remember, they went to Guinea and forced a draw, something they can still repeat here if we are not careful.”
Having won virtually everything on the local front with Dynamos, Pasuwa’s next port of call is international glory.
That will to start with qualifying for the Afcon finals. It is a dream which can become a reality at the end of the Malawi clash.
But Pasuwa is not looking at that.
“You will know from my days even at Dynamos that I only focus on what my team can control which is our matches. If other results favour us elsewhere, then that’s a bonus,” he said.
Online Reporter