Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo in Durban, South Africa
Zimbabwe 2-2 Benin
MARCH 20 was supposed to be the day. In part, it was.
Africa’s most successful female Olympian Kirsty Coventry put Zimbabwe on the map, becoming the first ever female and African president of the International Olympic Committee.
The news was wildly celebrated across the continent.
And the breeze couldn’t have been received better in here where the Warriors were to play Benin in a 2026 World Cup qualifier.
That was the inspiration they needed to breathe life into their faltering search for a maiden place at the World Cup.
Just like Coventry, they could have written a piece of their own history by overturning a two-goal deficit to win the tie.
They did try but came just short on attaining that feat.
Zimbabwe needed to win this one to crawl back into the reckoning for a place in next year’s quadrennial finals to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.
But they didn’t strike the right chords, with some calamitous mistakes at the back heavily weighing down on them to see off this stalemate.
They were bottom of Group C and they are still at the foot with just three points from five games.
But they deserve some great deal of appreciation over the manner in which they found a way back into a match they looked to have lost inside just 35 minutes.
Captain Marshal Munetsi halved the deficit with a minute before the break and returning veteran Knowledge Musona ensured a share of the spoils after 59 minutes.
It was a good pair of goals, scored by two top players.
The goals should have won Zimbabwe the three points they so needed. But then, they have to blame themselves for not being cautious enough in the early stages of the game.
It was a day veteran goalkeeper Washington Arubi once again decided to let himself and the nation down.
With the scales tipping in Zimbabwe’s favour on the 12th minute, the 38-year-old clumsily tapped a routine clearance against Aribi Dokou and the ball fell graciously on the feet of the ruthless Steve Mounie.
The Augsburg star doesn’t miss from that distance.
Just like that, the Warriors fell into panic mode. They allowed Benin to play and they could have added one more or even two inside 10 minutes of taking their lead.
The second would still come through Dokou after some good exchange of passes inside the Warriors box.
It was a huge stab that drowned all the noise coming from a strong band of supporters rallying Zimbabwe.
But nine minutes later, Munetsi restored the hope for Zimbabwe, hooking well from a good cut-back by the impressive Jordan Zemura.
Nees pulled out Prince Dube at the restart for Tawanda Chirewa and Zimbabwe dominated the exchanges well from then.
The dominance merited a goal, or two.
Inside that spell, Musona opened up well to stab a grounder home to spark wild celebrations across the massive venue.
A third goal was a must from that point for the sake of revival.
It almost came but never did.
The continued dominance never turned into goals.
Zimbabwe’s chances of making it to next year’s global showpiece have diminished.
Benin took the initiative and they are leading the group on eight points, at least for 24 hours.
Nees hailed his charges character but was typically disappointed.
“The character was good for the team. And the match was on the edge. We risked more and more for the longer it went. And of course, it could have gone either way, but we wanted to win. We tried everything, and I think we can go out with that feeling,” said Nees.
“We gave everything, we put everything on the table, and that is what you will always need. You need to have that feeling.
“We missed a lot of chances but the feeling that you put everything on your table must be there. And I think from that point of view, I’m impressed. Maybe one more chance I think we would have changed the game completely.”
Teams
Zimbabwe: Washington Arubi, Munashe Garananga, Gerald Takwara, Emmanuel Jalai, Jordan Zemura, Divine Lunga, Andy Rinomhota, Marshal Munetsi, Khama Billiat (Terrence Dzvukamanja 81min), Knowledge Musona (Tawanda Maswanhise 80min), Prince Dube (Tawanda Chirewa 46min)
Benin: Dandjinou Marcel, Roche Yohan, Jijan Mohamed, Moumini Rachid, Kiki David, Hossane Imourane, D’almeida Sessi, Dokou Dodo, Steve Mounie, Andreas Hountondji, Junior Olaitan
Bongani Ndlovu