WHAT A SHAME!

Eddie Chikamhi Harare Bureau
Zimbabwe 2-2 Tanzania
(Tanzania win 3-2 on aggregate)CLUELESS Ian Gorowa was left pondering his future as national soccer team coach after the Warriors crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations at the first hurdle with a draw against minnows Tanzania at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

The Warriors, who lost the first leg 1-0 in Dar es Salaam two weeks ago, failed to overturn the deficit and will now be out of competitive football for the next two  years.

Gorowa took up the job last year with a mission to take the side to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco and had instant success with the team in the recent Africa Nations Championship (Chan) tournament in South Africa where they reached the semi-finals.

The coach, who was also targeted by a rowdy group of missile-throwing fans at the end of the match yesterday, had a long talk with his players in the dressing room afterwards as he hammered home some important points as the Warriors prepared to take a long break from the international stage.

Gorowa was visibly dejected by his side’s exit from the Afcon competition and turned down a request for a post-match press conference.

“No comment. I cannot talk about anything at the moment. I just need some time to let the dust settle first,” he said.
But reports later filtered in indicating that Gorowa said “goodbye” to his players in the dressing room after yesterday’s match.
Zimbabwe will miss the Africa Cup of Nations final for the fifth time since their  last participation at the 2006 event in Tunisia.

They knew they had a tall order after being drawn to start from the preliminary rounds and losing the first leg in Tanzania 1-0 in the first round.

Gorowa and his men were confident they were going to take the game back to their opponents, who are ranked slightly lower in the world rankings, but the team failed to deliver despite the response from the supporters who had turned up in their numbers to cheer them on after the authorities had slashed gate charges for the cheapest ticket to $1.

Zimbabwe started brightly when they got an early goal through Danny Phiri in the fourth minute before the visitors hit back with the important away goal scored by their captain Nadir Haroub in the 21st minute to pile pressure on Gorowa’s men.

Tanzania took the lead soon after the restart, courtesy of TP Mazembe winger Thomas Ulimwengu who took advantage of a defensive lapse to beat goalkeeper George Chigova at the near post.

However, midfield enforcer Willard Katsande levelled matters in the 54th minute but Zimbabwe still needed two clear goals to win the tie after conceding the two away goals.

Warriors team captain Partson Jaure said the Zimbabwe dressing room was reduced to tears after the match.

“I think as a team we tried everything but unfortunately we could only manage a draw. We put all the effort and we had hoped for a positive result at home but it failed. The fans had come out in numbers and they tried by all means to get us into the game. It’s tough luck.

“Everyone is pained by this result and we couldn’t even talk about it in the changing room.  No one was talking to the other. We have exited this tournament early. It’s very difficult to think of it that we will not be playing competitive football for a long time. It’s worrying.

“We made mistakes. As you know football is also about mistakes so we cannot blame anyone for that. It’s part of the game,” said Jaure.

Tanzania coach Maart Nooj said the Taifa Stars played more like “warriors” as they fought hard for the draw to dump Zimbabwe out of the Afcon qualifiers.

“I give honour to the boys. I think the Taifa Stars were warriors today. They showed  great fighting spirit. The way the game was played it had a lot of quick turnovers. It was a fast game. That was magnificent,” said Nooj.

Teams

Zimbabwe: G Chigova, H Zvirekwi, M Ncube, P Jaure, E Chipeta, D Phiri (P Manhanga, 89th minute), W Katsande, D Mukamba (K Musharu, 68th minute), O Karuru, C Malajila (T Ndoro, 46th minute), E Sadomba

Tanzania: D Munish, S Kapombe, O Joshua, N Haroub, K Yondan, H Chanongo, S Msuva (S Moradi, 77th minute), T Ulimwengu, M Kazimoto, A Kiemba (F Domayo, 63rd minute), J Bocco