Warriors disappoint again

WHAT had initially appeared as redemption at last for the Warriors at the 2024 Cosafa Cup tournament turned out be yet another embarrassment as they bowed out of the tournament following a gutting 2-0 defeat to Kenya yesterday.

Having won their opening two games at the tournament, Jairos Tapera’s men needed just a point against Kenya to progress to the next round but that was not to be as they spectacularly collapsed.

Comoros finished at the top of the standings following their 1-0 win against Zambia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Their triumph left Tapera’s troops sitting on third on the table.

Once again, Zimbabwe’s participation at the tournament was shrouded with disorder. There are strong indications that the “Normalisation Committee”(NC) had opted out of participation at the tournament only to be forced by Fifa to participate.

It’s even alleged that the NC had not planned beyond the group stages for this tournament. The term of the NC came to an end on June 30 and it remains to be seen what step Fifa takes next.

Reports have already been out that Fifa are not happy with the committee and will most likely not extend their stay in office, a development that will be accepted by some who feel the NC has failed to deliver on their mandate.

The national team selection process has been questioned with coaches disassociating themselves from it. Greed has seen them take up the appointments and they have also been seemingly been questionable selections of players.

A disappointed fan, Allen Ndlovu said football does not have any short cuts and the NC should take responsibility for the exit. “There is no surprise there. Actually the team exceeded expectations with those two victories.

We have always said it, our leaders are letting us down. You cannot expect results when your planning is poor. The team doesn’t get adequate time to prepare and players are told at the last minute they are in the squad that is where the problem starts. It would seem we go to these tournaments to just make up numbers,” said Ndlovu.

Former Highlanders and Railstars forward, Collin Nyambiya blamed the loss to Kenya on complacency. “Going into the final game at six points l think there was a bit of complacency from our boys. It was a tough group. Kenya are no pushovers but we should have done better against Kenya.”
Football coach, Evans Netha agreed:

“I think they started well, maybe it was complacency that they failed to guard against. I think they forgot the teams in the group were not too far from them. At the end of the day it was complacency that let us down.”

Meluleki Nkomazana said: “You bring in people that are expected to normalise our football but they actually make the situation worse. Where have you seen a coach denouncing a squad that he is expected to coach just days before the tournament?”

Donald Mlotshwa said the players need to respect the badge and the fans back home. “Honestly, we can’t keep on crying about the same thing every day, when it matters the most they crumble and that has been going on for some time now. The players need to respect the badge and the fans, why should it be that every time they make us cry, the Warriors have turned us into a laughing stock, it’s unacceptable.”
—@innocentskizoe