dyton mupawaenda
Robson Sharuko
H-Metro Editor
THE Warriors are going to Morocco and, at H-Metro, we have been partying all weekend to celebrate this fine piece of achievement.
It’s special because, unlike in the past, we qualified without enjoying the comforts of home in our qualifiers.
Others will say that we were also helped by the fact that two of our group opponents, Kenya and Namibia, also did not enjoy the advantage of playing at home.
But, we took eight out of a possible 12 points in head-to-head battles against Kenya and Namibia on neutral venues. Given that we have a new coach, who had never been to the AFCON finals, this is as impressive as it gets.
His decision to throw in Tawanda Maswanhise into the deep end, in his first start for the Warriors, in the coach’s biggest test, was a brave one and yielded big returns.
That the boys secured this fine result, on the day that the ex-goalkeeper George Chigova died last year, and in the Polokwane stadium he used to call home, made it all special.
We feel we played our little part in lifting our boys to clear the final hurdle on Friday by evoking Chigova’s memory and challenging the Warriors to play for him.
We watched from a distance as our front page dominated the internet with Chigova’s widow, Noku, also taking time to thank us for honouring the memory of her husband.
No story on Friday would have eclipsed the importance of the Warriors’ game against Kenya to warrant front page treatment by us.
Now, let’s go and make history in Morocco by going beyond the group stages for the first time in our history.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter