admin
for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations as two early goals were enough to thwart that bid at the November 11 Stadium in Luanda, Angola, yesterday.
The man Zimbabweans will love to hate is definitely Manchester United reject Manyucho who struck with devastating accuracy with his head in the fourth and sixth minutes of the game.
Angola, spurred on by a vociferous crowd of about 45 000, started the match on a furious pace pinning the Zimbabweans in their own half. A succession of corner kicks in a two-minute spell had
Manyucho getting the better of a static Zimbabwean defence in the fourth minute to powerfully nod down a cross from a corner kick. So hard was the effort that the Zimbabwe wingback Onisimo Bhasera and goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda could not do anything to thwart the effort.
In the sixth minute Manyucho got to another effort from the left to send a powerful header past a desperately diving Ariel Sibanda who redeemed himself with his defence to keep Zimbabwe within striking range of reaching the finals.
But the two goals were to be only what the fans would witness all afternoon with play swinging from one end to the other as both teams hunted for a goal.
For Zimbabwe a goal while it was 2-0 would have seen them proceed to South Africa for the 2013 Afcon finals. Angola just needed an extra goal as an assurance but as it would be, just the Manyucho strikes were enough for the afternoon.
Zimbabwe did not allow themselves to be frustrated out of contention. They were nearly rewarded in the 13th minute when Khama Billiat worked his way past two defenders Lunghino and Zuella and laid a sitter for Cuthbert Malajila. The Maritzburg hitman was a shade too slow to connect with Lama in goal for Angola to beat.
Zimbabwe created several chances and in one of the best for the afternoon for the visitors, Billiat, so full of life and hope all afternoon, tricked his opponents on the left and burst into the box but his decision-making and application with his left foot let him down. Instead of laying for Malajila he chose to go for goal and his chip just missed the target.
On 40 minutes Sibanda went airbone to pluck what looked a certain goal by Matteus to safety with his defence called on duty to clear the corner kick taken by Dede.
Esrom Nyandoro had a commanding performance in the heart of defence, stopping several raids and initiating attacks through his wings and midfield. In the 15th minute Musona had his effort saved by Lama who parried the ball for a corner.
The three-man attack of Malajila, Billiat and Knowledge Musona failed to click while Tinashe Nengomasha failed to provide a grinding effect in midfield where Archie Gutu and Vusa Nyoni appeared to do well in attack every time they had the ball.
In the second half’s opening minute, coach Rahman Gumbo, in a bid to add firepower and a sense of urgency, brought in Edward Sadomba and Kingstone Nkhata for Malajila and Nyoni.
The substitution did not add any firepower. Gumbo could have erred by keeping an out-of-sorts Musona as he failed so many times to add the cutting edge to Zimbabwe’s attack.
In the end Zimbabwe could have been made to pay for their decision to clear some of the big names from Asiagate at the last minute. This put the coach under a lot of pressure to use them as leaving them out of the team would have been taken as treason.
He paid the price for having some other people’s game plan as Nkhata, Malajila, Sadomba and Musona failed to sparkle and were overshadowed by young Gutu, Nyandoro and Sibanda.
Manyucho came close in the 47th minute but Sibanda did well to smother the effort. He was to deny Matteus and Manyucho on two occasions during the second half with good timing and sense of anticipation as Nyandoro, Nyadombo, Bhasera and Kaseke appeared to have upped their game.
The back four initiated some good moves from the back but found themselves under a lot of pressure as the strikers and midfielders needlessly lost possession. This tended to see the back four outnumbered in defence as the Angolans tried to catch them on counter-attacks. Sibanda made double saves in the 61st minute denying both Mateus and Manyucho.
On two occasions Kaseke made timely moves against the Angolans with the goalkeeper Sibanda badly exposed in one-on-one situations. Some delaying tactics killed off Zimbabwe´s bid for a berth in South Africa with the home team holding on precariously to their 2-0 lead.
Zimbabwe, who appeared so close, saw their 3-1 lead evaporate and hopes of a nation crumble like a deck of cards in a campaign so heavily supported by Mbada Diamonds.
The team arrives in Harare this morning.
TEAM: A Sibanda, N Kaseke, E Nyandoro, C Nyandoro, C Nyadombo, T Nengomasha, A Gutu, V Nyoni (K Nkhata 46th minute), K Billiat, K Musona (D Mukamba 90th minute), C Malajila ( E Sadomba 66th minute)
Online Reporter