adminGrace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’s Warriors turned back the hands of time to an era when they were a force in football on the continent with a crushing victory over Swaziland that kept their Nations Cup dream alive.
After reaching their lowest point when being bundled out at the preliminary stage by Tanzania in the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers, the Warriors chose the Easter Holiday to announce their resurrection with a 4-0 demolition of Swaziland at the National Sports Stadium.
It is their biggest win in a Nations Cup home assignment in more than five years and underlined the Warriors resurgence under Callisto Pasuwa
Their last biggest winning margin was a 3-1 triumph over Angola in September 2012 in an AFCON qualifier at Rufaro but any hopes of qualifying to South Africa were destroyed following a 2-0 defeat in Luanda two weeks later.
Former Warriors coach Rahman Gumbo was in charge of the team.
On Monday all the pain which in the past has been afflicted on the fans by the national team was erased as the real Warriors stood up and were counted. A celebratory atmosphere engulfed the Harare suburbs with a lot of cars blowing their horns amid wild cheers in sports bars in the high density areas.
And Warriors striker Nyasha Mushekwi believes there is need to be careful and remain focused.
“We can say our chances to qualify are high but it is not yet over until it is over. We can lose the other two games and Swaziland can win the last two games and it can change the complexion of the whole table. “So we just have to focus, the next game is a couple of months away from now, so we just have to keep pushing and keep doing well.
“The first half we didn’t quite well but managed to change the complexion of the game in the second half,” he said. However, the striker believes the Warriors should start preparing for the game against Malawi now.
“That is another big game, I am sure there would be enough rest for the players, the camp would be much better,” said Mushekwi.
Online Reporter