Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
IT was always going to be difficult to hunt down the Dessert Foxes in their own terrain, but, in some instances, the impossible seemed possible.
Algeria handed the Warriors their first defeat in the Afcon qualifiers with a 3-1 victory.
It was not a hopeless defeat, the Warriors will carry some confidence into Monday’s return fixture.
The win for Algeria saw the Dessert Foxes maintaining their 100-winning record with three wins out of three to remain on top of the group with nine points.
Zimbabwe are second in the group with four points. Zambia are third in the group with three points, Botswana anchor the standings with one point.
Chronicle Sport came up with four major talking points from the Algeria loss.
1. The Goalkeeper Question: Is Chipezeze Zimbabwe’s number one?
Perhaps now would be the right time to evaluate who deserves to be country’s first choice goalie.
In recent years Elvis Chipezeze, Edmore Sibanda and Tatenda Mukuruva have had their time in-between the posts but none of them has claimed the full mantle of being the country’s number one.
On Thursday Chipezeze got the nod ahead of Talbert Shumba and was at fault for the first goal punching the ball back into play when the sideway was a better option.
The coach would describe the goal as a silly goal after the match.
In fact he thought the first two goals were avoidable without necessarily placing blame on anyone.
This was not the first time Chipezeze made a costly mistake in national colours.
At the last Afcon finals he was subject to criticism after his blunders cost the team.
Chipezeze suffered a knee injury towards the end of the first half.
He was replaced by former Chapungu goalkeeper who is now with Nkana of Zambia Talbert Shumba who was to be beaten by Manchester City star Mahrez, 12 minutes into the second stanza.
Shumba seemed to command his defense well and is inline to be between the posts on Monday.
What is evident is that the Warriors’ technical team needs to solve the goalkeeper problem.
2.Ovidy Karuru inclusion.
One of the major debates that has arose after the game is the inclusion of Ovidy Karuru into starting line-up.
It was his inclusion first in the squad that shook many.
He is presently clubless.
In all honesty there have been players that have been part of national teams when they were unattached, not only in Zimbabwe but in other countries as well.
However, Karuru’s performance yesterday was not convincing and the jury is out on how he got a chance to play in such an important fixture.
Logarusic defended Karuru’s national call up saying previous exploits for the Warriors helped him earn a spot in the squad and with the local League still inactive perhaps the coach had limited choice in terms of personal for the game.
3. Logarusic needs time.
There has been debate on how the national side should play, as each coach that had taken charge brought in his own style, making it difficult to establish a known national style of play.
Logarusic will certainly need time to implement his own phylosophy.
To achieve that, the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) need to make use of the international break and have the national team playing as many friendly matches as they can.
4. Our players need game time.
Prior to the game the Croat expressed concern over some of his key men lacking game time.
The difference in terms of match fitness was visible.
Key players Alec Mudimu who plays for Sheriff Tiraspol in Moldova, Teenage Hadebe who plays for Yeni Malatyaspor in Turkey as well as defensive midfielder Marvelous Nakamba of Aston Villa are seeing little action at their respective clubs, which is a concern.
Nakamba has only made two appearances as a substitute for Aston Villa.
Facing opponents such as Algeria certainly key players in the Warriors setup need to start playing regularly.
Online Reporter