admintheir best chance of progressing to their first Nations Cup finals in six years.
A nightmarish start to the game saw the Warriors crumble inside just six minutes to bow out of contention at the 11 November Stadium here yesterday.
The Warriors, leading 3-1 from the first leg at Rufaro on September 9, saw that seemingly healthy advantage melt in the heat of Luanda as two quick goals by the Palancas Negras skipper Manucho gave the Angolans just the tonic they needed.
And the victory that took them through to the 29th edition of the continental showpiece.
It was as painful a defeat as they come as the Warriors had appeared to have done their homework all week and knew that the hosts would come at them right from the onset.
What made the loss even more painful is the soft manner in which they conceded both goals in easily their worst start to a game in this campaign.
The Warriors had told the nation that their game plan would be to avoid conceding early goals with the rallying call that was echoed by all Zimbabweans being that they needed to hold on at least for the opening 20 minutes and frustrate the hosts.
But the 40 000 strong home crowd had already been sent into a frenzy in the third minute while some of their colleagues were even still making their way into the venue of the 2010 Nations Cup final.
And the tormentor of the Warriors souls was Valladolid striker Manucho, who troubled the Zimbabwe defence all afternoon if not with his aerial strength then his clever runs and close ball control.
Exactly a year after yet a similar mission ended in agony in Praia with a 2-1 defeat to Cape Verde, in a game they needed an outright to win to advance to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, the last hurdle jinx returned to haunt the Warriors again.
What pained more, this time, was that unlike in Praia, we didn’t need an outright win to go through as a defeat would still have sent us to the 2013 Nations Cup finals in South Africa.
In fact, Rahman Gumbo’s men seemed to be still holed up in their rooms at Hotel Tivoli in downtown Luanda when Palancas Negras skipper Manucho struck twice inside three minutes with headers and turn the game upside.
Manucho was first left unmarked in the third minute to ghost in and meet a looping corner from Djalma which found both goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda and his defence static.
The young Highlanders goalkeeper knows he ought to have done better to come off his line and deal with the corner.
Manucho then timed his run in the sixth minute to meet with a diving header after a cross from the left by Mateus, who had swept his way past Noel Kaseke. Sibanda’s weakness with crosses was being cruelly exposed as the Palancas Negras looked dangerous from each set piece they got near his area.
It was not until the 14th minute that the Warriors finally woke from their slumber and got closer to Angolan goalkeeper Lama’s area.
Khama Billiat, once again Zimbabwe’s best player on view, dribbled his way past Zuel and Lunginho and sent a low cross which an on-rushing Cuthbert Malajila failed to connect.
It was a sad picture at the end of the match as Billiat, who had been eyeing his first Nations Cup appearance, wept uncontrollably. A minute later Knowledge Musona, uncharacteristically off colour when his country needed him most, made his first attempt on goal with a shot struck on the run which Petro Luanda goalkeeper Lama parried away for a corner.
The combination of Manucho, Djalma and Dede, however, kept the Warriors on the back foot for much of the first period with the visitors seeing very little of the ball, but on the occasions that they won possession, they only threatened when the ball fell to Billiat
Vusa Nyoni also struggled with his game and was not surprisingly hauled off at half time with returning Kaizer Chiefs striker Kingston Nkatha taking his place.
The Warriors midfield just simply did not exist in a game of such high stakes and Gumbo and his assistants David Mandigora and Peter Ndlovu ought to have also employed the right personnel to handle such a task.
Two minutes after the break, Manucho nearly got a third for the hosts after losing his marker Carlington Nyadombo to get to the end of another set piece from the right.
The Warriors chances were few and far between and as time clicked on towards the end, the visitors began to hurry their efforts and often left wide gaps at the back.
And, Sibanda, not once, was forced to somehow keep the ball out in a face-to-face situation with an Angolan forward.
A stunned Gumbo pointed to the away goal they conceded in Harare in the first leg and “stage fright’’ on the part of his charges as the reason why the Warriors crumbled when it mattered most.
“The goal that we conceded in Harare has come back to haunt us. Our game plan was to avoid conceding those early goals, but maybe it was a question of stage fright but I was not expecting the boys to concede a goal so early.
“You could see, too, that the Angolans’ 12th man, the supporters, played their part in unnerving our boys
“But I don’t want to take anything away from these youngsters, I think once they settled and started to find their game they matched the Angolans and from the few chances that came away we should have buried at least one, but that’s the name of the game.
“We even tried to change our tactics and where we had started with one centre striker we added another,’’ Gumbo said.
Skipper Nyandoro apologised to the nation and reckoned that Angola’s “experience at this level of the game decided who goes to South Africa and who has to wait for the 2015 edition of the Nations Cup.
Yesterday’s defeat also meant it is probably Nyandoro’s last attempt at the Nations Cup as the Mamelodi Sundowns man is now in the twilight of his career at 33-years-old.
“I think the difference at the end of the day was in experience. The Angolans have been to more Nations Cups and they are more experienced at this level of the game and it showed.
“I am sorry to the nation and we are all disappointed, but I think we should not crucify the youngsters we have in the team.
“I think in open play we played well, but just struggled from the set pieces,’’ Nyandoro said.
The reality, though, is that our Warriors are just not good enough at this level to just make the graduation to the finals.
For if such teams like Cape Verde can go into a more intimidating environment like Cameroon, and successfully defend a 2-0 lead, they certainly deserve to be at the Nations Cup and we don’t.
Teams that have character rarely take two steps back when they have already put one foot into the finals and just like the Class of 2011, Gumbo’s men will return to Harare this morning knowing they are simply a bunch of failures.
Teams
Angola: Lama, Lunginho, Danny, Kivuvu, Dede (Manuel 68th minute), Dlajma (Billic 76th minute), Manucho, Zuel (Bastos 21st minute), Miguel, Pirolito, Mateus
Zimbabwe: A. Sibanda, N. Kaseke, O. Bhasera, E. Nyandoro, C. Nyadombo, T, Nengomasha, K Billiat, A. Gutu, C. Malajila (E. Sadomba 66th minute), K. Musona (D. Mukamba 87th minute), V. Nyoni (K Nkatha 46th minute).
Online Reporter