Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Warriors might be dishing out below par performances, much to the disappointment of their fans and the nation but their unity in camp hast struck their defender Munashe Garananga and left him in awe.
Zimbabwe suffered back-to-back defeats in the penultimate round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers falling by identical 1-0 margins to Benin in Cote d’Ivoire and Rwanda in South Africa.
Those losses, which have sparked outrage among the fans came inside four days.
With only two games before the conclusion of the qualifiers and sitting at the basement of Group C with four points in eight outings, the Warriors are already out of contention for a place at the global showpiece in North America next year.
They are 13 points behind Group C leaders and favourites for the ticket to the World Cup finals – South Africa.
In a group that had until the latest round of fixtures, been too close to call, Benin thumped Lesotho 4-0 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire to strengthen their grip on second place in Group C.
It was Benin’s most emphatic performance of the campaign and one that underscores that their triumph over the Warriors was no mere fluke.
According to reports from Abidjan, Steve Mounié headed in early to set the tone and Andréas Hountondji doubled the advantage from close range.
Hassane Imorou’s driven finish made it three before the break, with Junior Olaitan adding a fourth after the hour to complete a convincing win.
The result lifted the Cheetahs to 14 points and second place in the group, while Lesotho remain fifth on six and two above the measly Warriors.
In fact, Benin are now three points ahead of struggling West African giants Nigeria who are third and fourth-placed Rwanda with both sides tied on 11 points.
On the basis of their current run of form, the Warriors look set to suffer the ignominy of completing their World Cup campaign winless and at the foot of a Group table they had initially been tipped to be among the major contenders for pole position.
Yet on their part coach Michael Nees and his Warriors seem to have accepted their World Cup fate, that this has been a forgettable journey.
They have already wired themselves to using the remainder of the qualifiers to prepare for the Africa Cup of Nations jamboree, which they will be part of in Morocco this December.
The lack of a fighting mentality has been worrisome though but Garananga yesterday said the team has something to build on.
The centre-back believes the oneness within the group is a key starting point where Zimbabwe can put together something formidable.
“It’s good to collect wins as a team. But in the disappointing absence of the wins, I think we have seen some really good positives.
“I think we are connecting well as a team. The more we are playing together, the more we are becoming a unit which is formidable.
“What we need to improve is the performance and I have no doubt we are on track.
“We need to work on ourselves and get to pick wins, get to be accustomed with winning as we prepare for the AFCON finals,” he said.
Garananga said because of the unity, the Warriors are starting to look like a focused team pointing to their overall showing against Rwanda as testament to that.
“When it comes to playing well, yea we are getting there. In the match against Rwanda, we dominated quite well but it’s always about the result.
“Rwanda actually had one chance from the set-piece and they scored,” added Garananga.
“We should have done better there. I think those are some of the areas we also need to work on.
“I am sure the more we stay together as a team, the more we get to fix some of these things and I believe we will be better going forward.”
Zimbabwe will play Lesotho and South Africa in the final window of what is now an academic World Cup qualifiers but the games will show them where they are headed as they intensify their AFCON rehearsals.
At the AFCON in Morocco, Zimbabwe will play South Africa, Egypt and Angola in their group.
