With fans like these ones

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
THE Warriors didn’t get the win their fans wanted but their supporters were probably taught a thing or two about how to support your national team by a colourful band of Zambians who rolled into town and turned Rufaro into a noisy cathedral for their choir. The CHAN final round, first leg qualifier between Zimbabwe and Zambia ended goalless and the Warriors now need to do what no other country has done, beating the hosts at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium on Sunday, to qualify for their third straight finals appearance.

Alternatively, the Warriors could grind out a scoring draw, which would be enough to sweep them to the finals in South Africa on the away goals rule, in Zambia.
Zimbabwe have never failed to qualify for the CHAN finals, making it in 2009 in Cote d’Ivoire and two years later in Sudan.

If the Warriors fail this time around, it will bring a close to a depressing year for the national team in which they have failed to compete in the battle for a place at the 2014 World Cup and have been dislodged, as champions of the region, by the Zambians.

While the Warriors were being taught a thing or two about their opponents about how to play a game in enemy territory and come out with a positive result, their fans in the stands were also in for some good lessons.

The Chipolopolo fans know how to support their team, know how to party, and they were in Harare in huge numbers, arriving in the capital on Saturday aboard nine buses, provided by their Government, and they sang and danced on Match Day yesterday, providing sights and sounds that were very beautiful to the eyes and ears.

They really turned on the show, with their drums and dances and their relentless singing, and in the process they reduced the host fans to mere spectators.
Even the Zifa official in charge of fans, Simeon Jamanda, admitted that they had been handed a lesson by their Chipolopolo visitors.

Jamanda, however, said they would plead with Government authorities for support to send supporters to Ndola.
While our local fans were warming the Vietnam stands and the City End quietly watching a drama that was not appealing to the eye on the field, the Chipolopolo fans were cheering their local boys.

They just cheered their boys on, every touch, every move and even when the players made mistakes, those errors were not greeted by jeers.
As our supporters from the Vietman Stand turned to vulgar choruses, towards the end of the match, to register their disappointment with the way the game had unfolded, the Zambians were in full voice cheering their heroes.

While the City End bay was signalling to the coach Ian Gorowa to make a change, the visitors did not bother about the technical cards Chipolopolo coach Herve Renard was playing.

To them what mattered was just cheering Red Arrows winger, Bruce Musakanye, who was causing anxious moments for the hosts every time he was in possession, whenever he got touch of the ball.

To them this was all about their country qualifying for the Chan finals in South Africa in January next year and the fans playing a big role, with their voices, to try and make that happen.

It didn’t matter that they supported Zanaco, Zesco or Power Dynamos back home, yesterday it was all about their country, their national flag, and all their club affiliations and the choices that divide them when they go back to Zambia were forgotten.

To their credit the Zimbabwe fans came in their numbers for the match and there was a good crowd at Rufaro yesterday, obviously for an occasion spiced by the derby rivalry that exists between the two teams.

But our fans participation ended in their coming to the stadium.
By the time the match reached the half hour mark, the mood in the stands was gloomy and the talk was now how disjointed the team was, how off form this and that player was, the tactics that the coach was using and which were not yielding the desired results.

The cheering for the players had stopped.
In the past, club teams such as DRC giants TP Mazembe have come at Rufaro and hogged the limelight with the way their fans played in a part in helping the players perform with their warm support.

When the Warriors were held to a 1-1 draw by Mauritius, coach Ian Gorowa said he had realised that his players tended to be affected by the weight of expectations thrust on their shoulders, when playing in their backyard, by their fans.

And on Sunday, the Warriors will be at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium for the deciding match.
In football the game is only over when the referee blows to end the contest and while the Warriors might be down right now, having failed to make full use of their home advantage, they are certainly not out of this contest.

Every goal they will score in Zambia, that is if the players can carry their scoring boots, will mean that the Zambians need to score twice.
Given that the Zambians painted the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium into a sea of gold and green during the Cosafa Cup final last month, the Warriors will now have to brace themselves for an intimidating atmosphere in Ndola.

The Zambian fans who were at Rufaro yesterday will just be a drop in the ocean as the Chipolopolo fans will come in their numbers to support the team.
Yesterday, the supporters also waved placards warning Ghana ahead of their team’s World Cup qualifier against the Black Stars.
And there was a huge banner in the stands, too, with the Zambians congratulating President Mugabe for winning the recent presidential elections.