adminIn a brutal game that has very little space, or time for losers, and where the winner takes it all, Norman Mapeza and his men will have to brace themselves for a sticky period where their critics and disappointed fans will throw every available brick at them.
After all, the reality is that they came short in their 2012 Nations Cup qualifying campaign, and that’s what matters most.
Mapeza and his troops finished third in Group A, in exactly the same position as Valinhos and his Warriors during the doomed campaign to qualify for the 2010 Nations Cup finals, but while failure is the common denominator here, it tells just half the story.
The Brazilian coach and his men failed to beat both Kenya and Guinea at home, won just one in six qualifying matches, and signed off with a humiliating 2-4 defeat at the hands of minnows Namibia in their final game in Windhoek.
Crucially, that Warriors’ team in Windhoek had more players, who were on their way out of the system, than those who would be around to play a part in the team’s next international assignments and that most of them are inactive today, puts that into perspective.
On Saturday, on the Atlantic Ocean island of Cape Verde, Mapeza and his troops closed their 2012 Nations Cup campaign with a 1-2 defeat in Praia, where a victory would have swept them into their third appearance at Africa’s biggest football festival.
But while the Warriors collapsed in Praia, they refused to die and their storming second half performance, in that heat and humidity, and chasing a mission that looked impossible, was arguably their finest show on foreign soil since they rallied to hold Algeria in a 2-2 draw on June 19, 2005, in a 2006 World Cup/Nations Cup qualifier.
Shingi Kawondera, whose animated celebrations to mock the Algerian fans who had targeted him with monkey abuses remains an enduring image from that game, and Peter Ndlovu, who struck in the 87th minute to force the draw, were on target for the Warriors.
The Warriors’ second half show in Praia was as good a performance as any team will ever put into a 45-minute shift, on away soil in African football, and that they were not rewarded by the goals that their superb play deserved, was just another mystery that makes football so beautiful and cruel at the same time.
Admittedly, the way they started was a shocker and skipper Method Mwanjali should shoulder responsibility for giving away possession carelessly in the lead-up to the first goal and then messing up his attempted back-header to the ‘keeper, which was intercepted and converted.
Thirteen minutes gone and 0-2 down!
Other groups of Warriors would have collapsed, in that unforgiving heat and against an opponent that not only believed it was its destiny to win in that stadium, no matter the opposition, and that was fancying its chances of making history by qualifying for its maiden Nations Cup finals.
The same little Cape Verde who announced their arrival on the big stage on May 24 last year after holding a Portugal side – featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Carvalho, Miguel, Nani, Deco and Liedson — bound for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, to a goalless draw in an international friendly in the Portuguese city of Covilha. But the Warriors used their challenge to find the inspiration to produce a hearty response, dominating the remaining part of the first half, before turning on the show, in the second half, with easily their best 45 minutes – both at home and away – in a very long time.
The life on their flanks, and the good movement of Gilbert Mapemba, Ovidy Karuru, the inspired Vusa Nyoni and Khama Billiat, always promised a lot for the Warriors, and while the co-ordination between the midfield and the attacking crew was poor in the first half, the team was well oiled in the second.
Take time to watch the game, which ZBC have now brought on national television, and you will struggle to recall a game where the Warriors created so many chances, even in a home game, and found either an inspired goalkeeper, failed to convert or crashed their effort against the woodwork.
With their cause helped by a Mauritanian referee whose Fair Play display was a ray of light on a continent known for its biased match officials, the Warriors flourished in that second half, taking the game to their opponents with both style and pace, and that their industry was not rewarded with the goals that would have taken them to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, is what has made the pain of elimination difficult to swallow.
Musona, on another day, would have easily got a hattrick and the sight of that ‘keeper somehow saving his full-bloodied volley, hit on the run, summed up our day in terms of not getting what we deserved.
But if that second half show is a barometer of what this group of Warriors can produce, then there is absolutely no need for us to bury our heads in shame, even as the pain of failure to qualify devours our emotions,
because there is certainly a light at the end of this dark tunnel.
That optimism comes in the form of the youthfulness of the main players who gallantly fought for the cause of their motherland on Saturday but got very little rewards for their remarkable efforts.
Musona is just 21 and is not only adjusting to his new environment at Hoffenheim but is not at full pace, given his recent injury problems, and one can only wonder what will come out of this genius once he settles in Germany and he regains full fitness.
Billiat is just 21 and was playing just his fourth Nations Cup qualifier and, with a move to Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam on the wings, this diminutive genius can only get better.
Was he offside when he swept home that effort after a lovely move, which would have tied the scores at 2-2 with lots of time on our hands, I am certainly not convinced.
Rewind the move, stop the recording as the final pass is released and you will see the Cape Verde player covering him wide on the blind side.
Sadly the assistant referee did not.
Karuru is just 22 and, after a difficult build-up to the big game with injury troubles, he played his part and we all know that he will certainly do better, now that he is set to move to a better club.
Rusike is 22 and made a big impact when he came in as a substitute, to confirm his sudden return to form, Mushekwi is 24 and he is paying a big price for being thrust on the bench at Sundowns although that could change, given his goal for his club in the last match, and that could work for his confidence in national colours.
Lincoln Zvasiya was a 20-year-old unused substitute and seems set to move into that central defensive role, Zhaimu Jambo is 24, Cuthbert Malajila, whose pace gave our attack a new dimension, turned 26 just last week, Katsande — who was impressive again — is 26 and so is Mapemba.
We seem to have already forgotten that we have Onismor Bhasera, who is 25, and set to return to the Warriors.
On Saturday, the ship that was taking teams going to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea left us stranded in Praia after leaving the port with Mali on board. It hurts because we deserved more. But Cuthbert Dube is right.
The journey for these Warriors is just starting and, if you take time to watch their game in Praia, you will see why this group deserves to be supported rather than vilified.
Online Reporter