Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo, Zimpapers Sports Hub
EVERYTHING about them feels different now.
A coach with a clearer profile and a sharper football brain. A squad shaped around a modern idea of how the game should be played. And expectations that have quietly risen as the Warriors step into their Africa Cup of Nations opener against old rivals Egypt at the Stade de Agadir tonight.
Kick off is at 10pm.
Back home, Zimbabwe marks 38 years of National Unity. Across the country, celebrations will fill the day and when night falls, attention will shift to Morocco. Families will gather, radios will crackle, screens will flicker and the nation will settle behind the Warriors and the badge on their chests.
It is the first time Zimbabwe have taken part in this tournament during the festive season. That timing has sharpened the sense of longing. Many of the locally based players could have been home in their villages, sharing meals and stories with relatives they rarely see. Instead, those same families will be watching them carry the national cause under foreign lights.
Egypt have never been an easy terrain for Zimbabwe at this level.
Tonight’s Group B meeting is the third time the two sides have faced each other in an Afcon opening match since 2004. On their debut appearance 21 years ago, the Warriors lost 2-1 despite striking first through former captain Peter Ndlovu, who nodded home an audacious header from a low cross by the late Charles Johane. In 2019, it was another opening day defeat, this time 1-0.
Agadir offers a chance to finally bury that history.
All 27 players in camp are fit and ready for the task. a has urged the nation to rally behind a team determined to test his ‘fast and very fast’ approach against a Pharaohs side known for speed and control.
It is a hard mission. It is not an impossible one.
Six years ago, Zimbabwe showed they could disrupt Egypt. Their talisman Mohamed Salah was closely managed by Divine Lunga and struggled to influence the game from his usual channel. What undid the Warriors was not belief but detail. A lapse in organisation, a moment of inexperience, and Egypt took the opening they needed.
This time, there is a sense of deeper preparation. Marinica has already taken Malawi to the last 16 of this competition. He arrives with scars, lessons and conviction. He insists Zimbabwe are not in Morocco to make up numbers.
He said, “Yes, it is a very difficult match (against Egypt), and I believe that all the teams have qualified for a reason because they managed to win the right to participate, and I think all the teams have a chance.
“Obviously, Zimbabwe is a team with the chances and we have prepared very well and expect to have a very good result against all the teams including Egypt.
“We haven’t come here to just take part, we’ve just come here to qualify, so we believe in our chances.
“It’s true that Egypt has fantastic players like Mahmoud, like Mohamed, like obviously Salah, but we believe in our chances and we have players that can produce a surprise.
“We cannot tell you which player is going to produce a surprise because otherwise it won’t be a surprise, but we believe in our chances. So please support us and cheer for us. And we’ll have fun. There is much more to come from this team.”
The Warriors arrived in Agadir from Marrakech yesterday and spent part of the day bonding along the Agadir Beach, soaking up rare sunshine in the middle of Morocco’s biting winter.
Their clash with Egypt follows the Group B opener between Angola and South Africa. After tonight, Zimbabwe face Angola on Boxing Day before closing their group campaign against Bafana Bafana three days later.
But every journey needs a first step.
Whatever the Warriors hope to build in Morocco begins under the floodlights tonight.
