Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
Zimbabwe……………0
Mozambique…. (1) 1
MOZAMBIQUE taught hosts Zimbabwe that nothing beats good preparation in football after the Young Warriors were dominated in front of home supporters in their opening match of the COSAFA Under-17 Championships at Ngoni Stadium yesterday.
The Norton community came out in numbers to support the team, with nearly 5 000 finding their way into Ngoni but the result was not quite what they had wanted after impressive Mozambican winger Chauson Nhabanga scored the only goal of the match from a cross by Man-of-the-Match and left back Allan de Figuereido just eight minutes into the game.
The hosts failed to recover from the blow, to leave them sitting in third position of Group A.
Surprise packages Comoros lead the group following their commanding 3-1 win over Eswatini in the opening match of the tournament.
The result left hosts Zimbabwe with homework in their hands as they need to bounce back and keep alive their hopes in this tournament, which is also a pathway to qualification to next year’s AFCON Under-17 and the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.
The Young Warriors play Eswatini at the same venue tomorrow, before welcoming Comoros on Monday.
Zimbabwe were nowhere near their opponents yesterday in terms of play, something which the Mozambique coach Luis Manuel Correia Guerreiro attributed to the difference in preparations.
While the Young Warriors had a month to raise a team and two weeks to prepare for the tournament, Guerreiro said the Mambinhas are a product of two years of continuous preparations, which included training camps in Portugal.
“The secret behind our win today was simple. We started this project two years ago. We had preparations in Portugal where we played friendly matches,” said Guerreiro.
“Zimbabwe has a good team as we saw from their performance. It was a mature performance. We saw the transition. We knew we had to do our homework.
“Zimbabwe were quick with their attacks so we tried to neutralise the attacks and we did that very well.
“Preparation is very key. It’s important for the federation to organise preparations because that’s the only way a team can improve.”
However, Young Warriors coach Thulani Sibanda felt there was not much of a difference between the sides except that his team conceded “a soft goal’’.
“We did train, we did have a long time to train. Even if you watched the game, there wasn’t a very big difference between us and them, with the exception of maybe that soft goal.
“But we almost created the same amount of chances, there were times when they increased as well.
“Of course, the position they were in, we were also on top, especially the better part of the second half,’’ said Sibanda.
But it was evident the Mozambique youth team were technically and tactically superior and were on the basis of their display, deserved winners.
This is because they had the game under control for most parts of the game.
Mozambique surged ahead after Nhabanga poked the ball home from a cross by Figuereido after eight minutes.
Lanky midfielder Diego Pelembe was a handful for the hosts who had to throw more men at the back to avoid conceding further.
Pelembe showed incredible skill, beating his markers with ease before unleashing a low shot that was spilled by goalkeeper Siyanda Zimba a few minutes into the game.
From the resultant goal-mouth melee, the home fans only sighed relief when Shelton Sitoe sent his bicycle-kick over.
Then, Zimbabwe captain Tadiwa Chakuchichi did well at the half-hour-mark when he created space for himself after fooling his markers on the wide.
He managed to take a shot on the turn, but the ball went just wide of target.
Chakuchichi broke through again in the 49th minute but took too long to pull the trigger and Pascoal Miambo slid in with a critical tackle.
The Mambinhas, probably satisfied with the solitary lead against the hosting nation, took every opportunity to slow down the game, after Zimbabwe had returned from the breather a better side.
Mozambique still attacked when they got the opportunity and Steys Jose headed wide from a cross by Marcos Lazaro inside the box, forcing infuriated Zimbabwean goalkeeper Siyanda Zimba to lash out at his lethargic defenders.
Mozambique and Comoros are on three points after winning the opening matches while Zimbabwe and Eswatini will be looking for their first points when they clash tomorrow.
Teams:
Zimbabwe: Siyanda Zimba, Seth Musarapachena, Tapiwa Mautsa (Fortune Ncube, 46th min), Prince Chimwakale (Tawananyashe Chisuse, 90th min), Ashley Murapa, Munashe Ncube, Jameson Nduna (Irvine Mtungwazi, 70th min), Darrel Zulu, Elshaddai Sadomba (Tapiwa Gutu, 74th min), Tatenda Maulidi (Dwayne Musona, 74th min) Tadiwa Chakuchichi
Mozambique: Ricardo Vilanculos, Pirez Vieira, Allen de Figuereido, Pascal Miambo, Sheldon Sitoe, Seoul Kante (Valentine Pecame, 70th min), Diego Pelembe, Steys Jose, Chauson Nhabanga, Marcos Lazaro (Kristoff Machava, 90th min), Joachim Mubai (Jonas Mitusse, 72nd min)
