dyton mupawaenda
Tadious Manyepo in PORT ELIZABETH
Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1
Comoros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
MICHAEL Tapera says there is no better feeling than scoring a winning goal for one’s country as he marked his arrival on the big stage in dream fashion here yesterday.
His priceless goal helped Zimbabwe open their 2024 COSAFA Cup campaign with victory. The Manica Diamonds speed merchant scored a beauty.
It’s the FIRST victory for the Warriors, in regulation time, under the guidance of the ZIFA normalisation committee, whose mandate expires on Sunday, after a year of monumental blunders.
“There is obviously no greater feeling than scoring a winning goal for the national team.
“I just thought, maybe, I would be on the bench but then I was told that I should prepare to start. I was like, well, me?
“I then quickly configured my mind and readied for the encounter.
“Football is the same everywhere and I just told myself that I would go out there and do what I like to do the most. Of course, this is international level. I am extremely happy for the goal and the win on my debut.”
Tapera has made a name for himself at Manica Diamonds for his ability to thrive coming off the bench.
He could have recorded at least two assists in the match had Takunda Benhura and Donald Mudadi been a bit more clinical.
His criss-crossing interchange with Benhura caught the eye and the movement made the Ngezi Platinum striker look effective although he didn’t get to touch much of the ball.
And, in one of those moves, Tapera latched onto a perfectly-weighted cross by one of the best players on show, his Manica Diamonds teammate Farai Banda.
He met the cross on the volley, just earlier than his marker, and spectacularly arrowed it past a static Comoros goalkeeper.
Skipper Godknows Murwira was named the man-of-the-match.
This was a decent performance by the Warriors, considering all the challenges related to the build-up ahead of this tournament, with a number of squads being named and coach Jairos Tapera disowning some of the teams.
The Comoros have improved, in leaps and bounds, in recent years and are doing well in their World Cup qualifiers.
The Indian Ocean islanders, who have virtually the same team for the World Cup and COSAFA Cup qualifiers, are top of their 2026 World Cup qualifying group.
They have nine points from their four matches and lead a group which has the likes of Ghana, Mali, Madagascar, Central African Republic and Chad.
But, yesterday, they fell to a Zimbabwean side which played decently, especially given all the challenges they faced in the countdown to this tournament.
Online Reporter