Warriors in do-or-die mission

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
IT’S all or nothing for the Warriors when they collide with Malawi in a crucial Africa Cup of Nations Group B encounter at the Stade De Kouekong in Baffousam, Cameroon, this evening.

Both teams had shaky starts to their openers, losing by identical 1-0 score lines to Senegal and Guinea respectively on Monday.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference yesterday, Warriors’ head coach Norman Mapeza declared his charges’ readiness, saying the technical team had done its analysis of how Malawi plays and planned accordingly.

“In a game of football, you need to be cautious, we are coaches, we do match analysis for every game. Against Senegal we planned and we believe those tactics helped us, and against Malawi tomorrow (today) we will go there with a different approach and like I said, we have done our analysis and know exactly what we are going to do. In a nutshell we are ready for the Flames,” said Mapeza.

He said they go into today’s encounter seeking maximum points and then push for at least a draw in the last group match against Guinea in Yaoundé on Tuesday evening next week.

“It’s an important match for us and the nation, we believe our chances of qualifying for the round of 16 are still bright despite that unfortunate loss to Senegal,” said Mapeza.

Skipper Knowledge Musona and Kundayi Benyu, who missed Wednesday’s training, were expected to take to the field last night for the last training session at the match venue.

Benyu picked up a knock in the opening match on Monday, while Musona had flue like symptoms.

The two teams have met an incredible 57 times since 1980, with Zimbabwe getting 20 wins, two more than Malawi, while the other 19 matches ended in stalemates.

Malawi’s last victory over the Warriors was a 1-0 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in 2006.