Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo in DURBAN, South Africa
AFTER frustrating 2026 World Cup hopefuls South Africa by holding them to a goalless draw in Durban on Friday, the Warriors yesterday immediately shifted both base and focus.
They travelled on a charter flight to Polokwane, where they will play their last qualifier against Lesotho at the Peter Mokaba Stadium tomorrow night.
Both Zimbabwe and Lesotho are out of contention for a place at the World Cup, to be staged in North America next year, but there is still much at stake for the two teams to battle for.
The Warriors anchor Group C with five points and have not won a single game in nine qualifiers and will finish at the foot of the table given that Lesotho, who are second from the bottom, already have nine points on the board.
Zimbabwe lost the reverse tie 0-2 to the Crocodiles at Orlando Stadium in June last year. The Warriors are under pressure to avoid unprecedented back-to-back defeats to Lesotho.
Yet Zimbabwe have always dominated meetings between the two COSAFA sides. In fact, coach Michael Nees and his men have not lost twice to the same opponents despite their failed World Cup bid.
The German gaffer is already in a preparatory mood for the Africa Cup of Nations, where Zimbabwe will feature in Group B in Morocco in December.
Tomorrow’s game will bring some fond memories for Nees and his troops.
It was at this venue that the Warriors sealed their Nations Cup place via a 1-1 draw against Kenya last year.
“Every game, every training session is already in preparation and it’s also a selection because the players have to recommend themselves to be in the squad,’’ Nees said.
“There’s not so many opportunities anymore to recommend themselves.”
He added: “I would say against South Africa, it was a stress test, a real stress test, away from home, 50 000 or 55 000, I don’t know, it was even more, in terms of crowd, but against a team which was in 22 games, the real Bafana, not the COSAFA Bafana, I talk about the real Bafana, was 22 times not defeated on the pitch.
“They lost on the table against Lesotho, but that is not on the pitch, you won it, actually on the pitch, and you lost in penalties against Nigeria at the AFCON, 22 times undefeated.
“And I think we showed we can compete against the strongest team in Africa. Bafana Bafana definitely counts.”
Nees is looking forward to seeing his team display the same effort they put forth against South Africa when they play Lesotho.
Meanwhile, star Jordan Zemura is still pinching himself after he was denied what would have become his first goal for the Warriors by the upright in the dying moments of the match against South Africa.
The Udinese midfielder latched onto a loose ball which he put under control before firing with his left.
With South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams a beaten man, the ball zoomed to the left and kissed the post on its way out.
That is the closest the star has ever come to scoring for the Warriors.
“I am obviously disappointed to have failed to score on that particular moment,” he said.
“I was about to wheel in celebration when the ball wheeled off and missed the target.
“But that’s part of the game and I think I was unlucky on that particular moment. We now need to focus on the coming game against Lesotho.’’
