Warriors win restores hope

Lovemore Dube Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE’S surprise qualification to the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament finals in South Africa next year has restored the nation’s hope in the local football.Charles Sibanda scored a 63rd minute goal in Ndola on Saturday to put the Warriors through to the finals of the biennial event. The tournament will be held in South Africa in January, and Zimbabwe whose climate is not so different with most of South Africa is expected to do well.

Zambia and Zimbabwe went into the weekend match having played to a goalless draw in the first match played in Harare nine days ago. The Warriors were the underdogs but a number of changes to the side and Lady Luck smiled on Ian Gorowa as Sibanda pounced on a chance created by Nelson Maziwisa, also his team mate at club level.

Former national team manager and one of the most successful characters at Highlanders, Ernest Sibanda commended the Warriors for the good showing. He said this should be a foundation for the future in which Gorowa and Zifa need to build on.

“Gorowa and the boys have done us proud. Congratulations to the team for the good performance and qualification for South Africa. His should be the start of a great journey for local soccer.

“The win must unite Zimbabweans and see us share a common vision of creating a great footballing nation. It is a positive result for us, the boys have done us proud. The nation has to support Gorowa in what he wants to do,” said Sibanda.

He praised the young coach for casting his net wide.
“He has called up players from Triangle, Zvishavane and Hwange. You can tell he is not biased towards any part of the country and wants players to earn their stripes on merit,” said Sibanda who won four league titles with Highlanders.

Zenzo Moyo, a former Soccer Star of the Year and top goalscorer praised Gorowa and the players for doing the nation proud. He however, noted that playing at home was becoming difficult situation as the team had not won their last two assignments.

“This is good for our game. We can build on this if we stay focused and united. But the challenge is that we have not won at home where supporters have been hostile to certain players who do not belong to their clubs. The boys have been selected on merit and are eager to play for their country.

“It is disturbing that fans are booing them. This tends to increase the number of mistakes they make on the field thereby coming up with results that are not satisfactory. Let us be all-weather supporters, fans who will cheer the Warriors in defeat and victory,” said Moyo.

The former fiery striker, who was top goalscorer in 1998/99 and 2000 before moving to Cyprus, was a target of the boo boys from the Vietnam Stand at Rufaro during his national team days.

“It’s unnerving and puts the boys under unnecessary pressure. International football dictates that you win at home as away conditions could be unbearable,” said Moyo.

Sunungurayi Bhiza a Dynamos and Warriors supporter, said there is talent in the country. Identifying it and coming up with good combinations had always been the country’s biggest undoing.

“I believe in the brand Zimbabwe football. We just have to be united and support our national team coaches Ian Gorowa, Callisto Pasuwa, Jairos Tapera and Mkhuphali Masuku. They have done a good job by qualifying for the Chan finals in South Africa. What is good about these coaches is that they have been able to identify talent even from teams such as Triangle and Hwange, this is good for football,” said Bhiza.

He said the locally-based stars would give the foreign legion a good run in future which would even make the Warriors a stronger team. “He has cast his net wide enough and it appears it’s an on-going process and by the time we go to other tournaments, the players are not guaranteed places in the team judging from some of the players’ performances,” said Bhiza.

A member of the Zifa high performance technical team Cosmas Zulu said he was happy with the team’s win. He said there had been hints that Charles Sibanda, the scorer of the winner, was probably the best man for the job of playing behind the strikers and that advice was taken and won the team the game.

“We are so happy for the young man (Gorowa). He is a listener, there had been informal suggestions put across to him that behind the strikers Sibanda could deliver and see what he has done. I have lots of admiration for him, he seems to be on track and needs the nation’s support,’ said Zulu.

Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela said they were happy with the result and were looking forward to the future.