Chronicle Editor
Tadious Manyepo in POLOKWANE, South Africa
ZIMBABWE will date-stamp their participation at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations if they avoid defeat against Kenya in a delicate Group J tie at the Peter Mokaba Stadium here, this evening.
The match kicks-off at 6pm.
And the Warriors are tantalisingly closer to bookmarking their presence in the finals to be staged in Morocco late next year.
It’s a game Michael Nees’ boys know they can’t afford to slacken as defeat will throw them into an unwanted awkward situation going into the final qualifying match against Cameroon in Yaounde next week.
With leaders Cameroon already in the Afcon finals, having picked 11 points in five games, Zimbabwe and Kenya are in a fierce battle for the second slot in a four-team group that also has Namibia who are out of contention.
Zimbabwe sit on second place with eight points following two wins and as many draws while the Harambee Stars have four points to their name.
That means just a draw against them will see Zimbabwe taking the other spot with a game to spare.
But defeat this evening will leave the Warriors in a situation where they will need to beat Cameroon to ensure they progress to the biennial fiesta.
It is a game that Nees wants to do everything in the book to get a positive outcome against an opponent that would be out to breathe life into their campaign with a win.
The Warriors didn’t have the best of preparations due to waterlogging in their training pitch due to the incessant rains that pounded this part of South Africa for most of this week but the German gaffer isn’t looking at the downside of things.
“It’s a decisive game for Kenya and it’s an important game for us because we are in a good position.
“But you know what football can be. You can only plan and work on a good performance. And with a good performance you can have a good result.
“At the beginning, our preparations were hampered by some rains but not too much,” said Nees.
“The ground, where we trained took a lot of water, so we couldn’t train. But the team is in very good spirits, confident but not overconfident, I think we can look ahead with a lot of positivity.
“We have so much respect to the opponent but we can only look at our own abilities.
“Our objective is to qualify. That is our objective and not to think, what-how.
“Kenya is a very good team and we certainly know that. Their confidence is a little bit shaky now because of the two defeats to Cameroon.
“Nevertheless they remain a good team and we are aware of that.”
Nees said his decision to have the game moved to Polokwane from Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg where Zimbabwe have been hosting their opponents of late was more to do with the pitch condition that was affecting the Warriors’ floor in a way.
“To achieve something, you have to work for it and that is what we are going to do.
“I think the pitch (at Orlando) was a little bit bumpy, control was a bit difficult,” added Nees. And we then decided to move here and seeing the condition of this pitch, I think we made the right choice.”
And the Peter Mokaba Stadium generally evokes good memories for Zimbabwe who won the Cosafa tournament the last time they were in this Limpopo city.
Some of the players who were part of that team like Khama Billiat, Marvelous Nakamba, Devine Lunga, Teenage Hadebe and Martial Munetsi are still around and will be eager to relive those moments with a victory against Kenya.
Meanwhile a Zimbabwean education entity with solid presence in South Africa, Taalnet Group of Schools, have backed the Warriors and have committed to bring more than 50 students from Johannesburg to rally the team.
School founder, Justine Magidi, said he was happy to see the Warriors in such a good space.
“I think we should all be proud of the national team and we will be sending our children to sing and rally them when they face Kenya.
“We need to make them feel at home and we hope to continue supporting them even beyond the game against the Harambee Stars.”
The Warriors have been enjoying a lot of support from Zimbabweans based in South Africa including companies like Zororo-Phumulani, which has now become an integral part of the support system as they are the ones running all the logistics for the team.
Nees will not tinker much with the team that beat Namibia last month at least looking at how they trained at the match venue yesterday.
Probable Warriors line-up
Washington Arubi, Godknows Murwira, Gerald Takwara, Jordan Zemura, Munashe Garan’anga, Marshal Munetsi, Andy Rinomhota, Marvelous Nakamba, Khama Billiat, Walter Musona, Terrence Dzvukamanja
Online Reporter