Chronicle Editor
Mehluli Sibanda in MORULENG, South Africa
ZIMBABWE’s Young Warriors turned on one of their worst campaigns at a COSAFA Under-20 Championships when they were eliminated at the first hurdle without even registering a win.It was always going to be a tough task for coach Mandla Mpofu and his troops after they crashed 5-1 to Zambia in their opening group assignment. With their group comprising only three teams, it meant that the Young Warriors had to beat Malawi to enhance their chances of finishing second.
But presented with a chance to do some repair job, the Young Warriors were once again found wanting, managing just a 0-0 draw against Malawi in their second game. It was not completely over for Zimbabwe as they was still another window of opportunity but that chance depended on the outcome of Zambia’s match against Malawi.
For Zimbabwe to finish second in their group and sneaks into the next round, they needed Zambia to do them a favour and thrash Malawi 4-0 at Moruleng Stadium.
But all those hopes of gate crashing into the knock-out stage of the championships went up in smoke as Zambia could only manage a comfortable but yet “inadequate” 3-0 triumph over Malawi on Sunday afternoon.
This is because in the final analysis, it came down to goal difference to determine the Group B long standings. And the Young Warriors, by virtue of having conceded five goals against one team, had a minus four compared to Malawi’s minus three.
In thrashing Malawi in the final group decider, Zambia found the target in the 25th minute, with man of the match Chrispine Sakulanda hitting the back of the net.
The Zambians impressed the small crowd largely of Moruleng locals with their attractive brand of football, but were not able to find another goal in the first half.
“While Zambia continued to dominate in the second period, they could not breach the Malawi defence early.
Patson Daka found the second goal for Young Chipolopolo in the 76th minute from close range. Fashion Sakala scored the third goal for Zambia with five minutes to go after a delightful move. Daka’s flashing header went wide off target in the third of the four minutes added on and with that went Zimbabwe’s hopes of progressing to the next round.
Although Mpofu was naturally disappointed with the early exit, the results showed that the Young Warriors paid dearly for the absence of vibrant junior leagues across the country.
The Young Warriors were scheduled to arrive back home last night, having been among the first teams to checkout out of the tournament following their poor show, which is a far cry from the 2007 class that won the tournament and previous squads that would either reach the final or semi-finals.
“It so sad, very sad that we are going back home, remember that we came here as one of the favourites maybe to lift the cup, we have done well previously, we have produced players in this tournament previously but I might say that we learnt it the hard way.
“The only thing that we can do is simple and straight forward — go to basics — we must prepare for these tournaments, that’s the only way we can progress as a country. Remember I only had seven days to prepare, but in those seven days, I think after three days COSAFA wanted the team list, so it wasn’t good enough,” said Mpofu.
Team captain and Ngezi Platinum goalkeeper Nelson Chadya said it was painful for them to be heading home because their plan was to make it to the final. Chadya reckoned that they made “too many mistakes against Zambia,” which their opponents capitalised on.
“It’s so painful to be going home so early. “When we came, here we were aiming to play in the final, so it hurts to be going home so fast.
Against Zambia we made so many mistakes and Zambia took advantage of that, against Malawi we created chances but we failed to score,” said Chadya.
Online Reporter