dyton mupawaenda
THE Warriors stand on the threshold of securing their return to the AFCON finals tomorrow when they take on Kenya’s Harambee Stars their penultimate qualifier at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
We are the home team in this match because none of our stadiums have been certified to host such matches by CAF.
Kenya are also in the same predicament with us and when they hosted us in the reverse encounter, they played us at the Mandela Stadium in Kampala, Uganda.
That match ended in a draw although the Warriors will feel they did more to get a win.
Another draw against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon meant that we picked two out of six points in our first two games.
Those were the first two matches in which we were under the guidance of our new German coach Michael Nees.
However, the Warriors turned on the power in the back-to-back matches against Namibia, winning both games, scoring four goals and conceding just one.
Those impressive results, against a team which has been giving us challenges in recent matches, meant the Warriors took their points tally to eight.
With Kenya suffering back-to-back defeats against Cameroon, it meant that the race to try and win the group was now between the Indomitable Lions and the Warriors. While Cameroon have already qualified, the Warriors still need to secure their place.
We are in a dangerous situation because if the Kenyans beat us, they will take their tally to six points and, with a home game against Namibia to complete the campaign for them, they will be favourites to get to 10 points.
We would then need to beat Cameroon, in their backyard, for us to qualify ahead of the Harambee Stars.
That is not an easy assignment even though we know that it’s also not an impossible task.
The easier path for us is for the Warriors to either beat or hold Kenya tomorrow.
This is an important AFCON finals for us to qualify for because we have a number of young Euro-based players, who have emerged on the horizon, who need such tournaments for them to adjust to the demands of the game on the continent.
Tawanda Maswanhise has not been given a lot of game time by Nees but the coach knows that he is a very good player who is justifying why there was all that noise about him during his days at Leicester City.
The winger, who is blessed with lighting pace, has been a huge success for his new Scottish club Motherwell where he has been scoring for fun.
He chose to represent his fatherland rather than wait for the possibility of one day being selected to play for the Three Lions of England.
We believe that if we qualify for the AFCON next year, it would present a stage for the likes of Maswanhise to really explode.
This is why we want the Warriors to get the result they require and seal their place in Morocco next year.
Online Reporter