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Curtworth Masango
Sports Reporter
Zimbabwe Under-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1) 1
Botswana Under-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1
ZIMBABWE’S Young Warriors were punished for lack of concentration as they dropped two crucial points in a drawn game against Botswana in their opening fixture of the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations — COSAFA Qualifier at the ABB stadium in Matola, Mozambique yesterday.
The highly-anticipated match marked Zimbabwe’s return to the Southern African youth tourney after missing the last three editions.
But coach Simon Marange’s charges could not hold on to their slender lead after Enock Moyo had put them ahead at the half-hour mark.
Zimbabwe had good chances to extend their lead but their finishing was not up to scratch.
Eventually, all their toils were neutralised when the Young Zebras levelled matters in the 74th minute, to ensure a share of the spoils between the neighbours.
The Young Warriors had last appeared at the tournament in 2020 and their return was not as ideal as they would have wanted.
Bikita Minerals’ Moyo gave them the lead with his 30th-minute strike after the team had recovered from a slow start.
Zimbabwe forwards Denzel Mapuwa and Nesbert Muzenda missed good chances, which could have put the game out of reach for the Young Zebras before Botswana managed to equalise through their captain Phillip Kaku. Kaku beat goalkeeper Joseph Kaunda with a well-composed strike after the Zimbabwe defenders were caught napping inside the penalty box.
Young Warriors coach Marange said they now have to win their next two games against Mozambique and Eswatini to ensure they sail through to the next round.
“We have to win the next two games if we want to go through. It was going to be good to win the first game but it wasn’t to be,” he said.
Marange believes the loss of concentration in some phases affected the team’s ability to put the game out of reach of their opponents.
The Orlando Pirates youth coach will also need to seriously review his defence after he kept the same rearguard that shipped six goals the last time the Young Warriors featured in international at the Four-Nations tournament in Malawi in April. The Zimbabweans had themselves to blame for affording Botswana the chance to come back and claim a point. “We played in moments,” said Marange.
“There was a moment we were in total control and moments where we lost concentration when we needed to take chances and put the game out of reach for Botswana.
“But nothing much went wrong.
“We tried to bring in some freshness in wide areas to keep the intensity but we didn’t get results out of that and we kept inviting pressure where we lost concentration with a bit of tiredness but it’s something we will look at,” Marange said. Young Zebras coach Thaloba Nthaga felt the second half belonged to his side during which they could have stolen the victory.
“We didn’t start well. There was a bit of nerves on the guys and we were hurrying with the ball. “We left many gaps in the midfield.
“But in the second half, we worked with the back three and five in the midfield that saw us dominating the ball and I feel we should have won the game.
“At this level, you should take your chances to win the game,” said Nthaga.
Online Reporter