WE WUZ ROBBED!

Zimpapers Sports Hub

Cameroon……………………………………..…… (2) 2

Zimbabwe ………………………………………….. (0) 1

WE were ROBBED!

That’s the reality of our first loss in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde.

Thirty five years ago, Reinhard Fabisch was so angered by the biased refereeing show inside the same stadium he tossed some US dollar notes to the referees.

The message was that he felt they had been bribed to ensure the Indomitable Lions win and qualify for the ‘94 World Cup.

Cameroon won 3-1.

Yesterday, the stakes were not so high, with both teams having qualified for the 2025 AFCON finals, but there was a lot of pride at stake.

Another German coach, Michael Nees, suffered his first defeat in charge of the Warriors.

And, just like his counterpart Fabisch, he has the right to feel he was ROBBED.

The Warriors appeared down and out after conceding twice inside five minutes in the first half.

But they roared back after the break and appeared to have equalised only for Burundian referee Pacifique Ndabihawenimana to rob us of a deserved point against the five-time African champions.

Ndabihawenimana chalked off what was supposed to be a dramatic added time equaliser by Terrence Dzvukamanja for an off-side that could not be proven by television replays.

On another day, Dzvukamanja could have ended the match with a brace after the South Africa based forward had hit one back for Zimbabwe with a fine strike in the 73rd minute that beat Manchester United ‘keeper Andre Onana.

The Warriors fell to two first half goals from Indomitable Lions’ captain Vincent Aboubakar and George-Kevin N’Koudou.

But,on reflection, the poor offside decision by Ndabihawenimana was daylight robbery.

Neither the supplier of the ball Jordan Zemura nor the scorer were in an offside position.

The Indomitable Lions remain unbeaten at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in 52 years.

Nees blamed fatigue for the poor first half show.

“We played a match on Friday evening, we travelled 35 hours, we had no training sessions until yesterday before the match, not even a recovery session and it was only clear our players had tired legs.

“We were not only physically but also mentally not in the game in the first half. We were a bit sleepy.

“Communication was not good, the sun was hot the humidity but in the second half we really showed a different character.

“The players have a big character and they really wanted to show that they can play football and challenge Cameroon and I think at the end we deserved a draw.

“I think five more minutes we could have scored.”

Warriors

W. Arubi, G. Murwira (T. Machope, 85th min), D. Lunga, M. Garan’anga, T. Hadebe, M. Nakamba, A. Rinomhota (W. Musona, 73rd min), J. Zemura, K. Billiat, D. Mapfumo (P. Dube, 59th min), T. Maswanhise (A. Dzvukamanja, 59th min).