Warriors evolving from boys to men

Augustine Hwata Senior Sports Reporter
WARRIORS’ skipper Masimba Mambare says his troops are evolving from boys to being men following their recent qualification for the 2013 African Nations Championship finals. He wants them to use the 2014 World Cup, African Zone qualifier against Mozambique tomorrow afternoon at Rufaro to show that they have taken a huge leap forward.

The largely locally-assembled Warriors outfit have been staggering since Klaus Dieter Pagels started giving some of the players their maiden caps towards the end of last year.

Under Pagels, the Warriors won the hearts of some neutrals by playing a passing tiki-taka blend of football where the emphasis was on building short passes from the back.

But the style, while appealing to the eye, failed to produce a win in all the competitive matches.
Pagels’ former assistant, Ian Gorowa, has now been thrust into the hot seat and has abandoned part of the tiki-taka philosophy and opts to use the wings to penetrate the opposition while playing with two defensive linkmen.

Gorowa’s team is still unbeaten in the four competitive matches he has been in charge of the Warriors, and has only conceded one goal.
More importantly, he has helped Zimbabwe secure a berth to the CHAN finals next year in South Africa.

Zimbabwe’s 2014 World Cup campaign was doomed after their failure to win crucial ties at the National Sports Stadium against Guinea and Egypt and even away against lowly Mozambique.

The tie at Rufaro tomorrow is just a dead rubber but Mambare believes the game still has some relevance as the Zimbabwe try to salvage their battered pride from a World Cup campaign that went horrible wrong from the first game.

“This match could be a dead rubber but we are not treating it that way at all. We are on a rebuilding exercise and this gives us an opportunity for us to gauge our strength.

“This is another Southern African derby and it’s a new game from the match against Zambia. Some of us will be playing against Mozambique for the first time and we would want to impress.

“But playing at home is sometimes tricky because of the pressure from the fans so we just have to be committed like in the previous games and give it our all,” said Mambare yesterday.

The Highlanders’ midfielder said morale in their camp was high ahead of the clash after Zifa board president Cuthbert Dube yesterday presented the players with cash incentives following their qualification for CHAN.

Last month, the Warriors had row with Zifa over bonuses in the build-up to the CHAN qualifier against Mauritius at Rufaro.
“I think we are now growing from being boys to men and this match against Mozambique is an opportunity for us to develop further.
“Many of us in this team have played international football before from competitions like Cosafa and CHAN and this World Cup qualifier is an another chance to grow,” said Mambare.

Mozambique, who arrived in Harare on Thursday, have never won in Zimbabwe and Mambare does not foresee the Mambas making history tomorrow.

“I do not think that Mozambique will give us problems whether they bring foreign-based players or not.
“At home we have been under a bit of some pressure from the supporters to deliver but I think the technical team has been pleased with our performance.

“During away matches, we have played better football but I just feel that his time should do better at home because we know what is expected of us.

“I just hope that wwe ill absorb the pressure from the supporters,” said Mambare.
The Warriors are likely to be cheered by their fans who were impressed with their hearty performance in the historic 1-0 win over Zambia in the deciding CHAN qualifier in Ndola.

It was Zambia’s first loss at the Levy Mwanawasa fortress since moving to play their home matches in that stadium and their first defeat in Ndola in 45 years.

Given the deep rivalry that exists between Zimbabwe and Zambia, there was an extra spice to that victory in Ndola and that should ease some of the pressure on the players and help them to play their flowing football.

It’s a huge game for many of the players, who want to make a statement that they should be a permanent part of the team, and the return of popular defensive midfielder, Willard Katsande, inexplicably left out by Pagels, should give them strength.