adminZNSSA leader Eddie “Mboma” Nyatanga said the banquet had originally been organised as a victory party for the Warriors but the theme has since changed after the team’s failure to qualify for the Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Nyatanga said the fans, while disappointed by the Warriors’ failure, were heartened by the way the team fought its way back into contention and how they turned on a spirited display in the second half of their final qualifier against Cape Verde.
“The bottom line is that the Warriors didn’t qualify but we have organised a night out with the boys and their technical team, who are in this country, just for us to say thank you to them for flying our flag so proudly even though we did not make it in the end,” said Nyatanga.
“We share a strong bond with the boys and we are sad that we couldn’t make it to Cape Verde to throw our support behind them because we believe it could have made a big difference since the Warriors did not lose when we backed them in Liberia.
“We saw on television that the boys really gave it all they have and we could see that there were tears in the end because they felt that they could have won that game against Cape Verde and we want to tell them that we also share their disappointment.
“There were no fans at Harare International Airport to welcome the team back on Monday because we didn’t know the travel arrangements and we believe that tomorrow evening (today), we can interact with those Warriors who are back home and personally tell them that we are together in this battle. As far as ZNSSA are concerned, our boys did not fail to qualify for the 2012 Afcon but we bungled it when we did not give them the best possible preparations ahead of the game against Cape Verde at home, which we should have won and everything could have been different.”
Nyatanga said it was unnecessary right now to get the blame game rolling but ZNSSA wants everyone to pick big lessons for the role they played in this campaign.
“Zifa president Cuthbert Dube was a shining example of a man who had the team and nation’s interests at heart and we salute him for everything that he did trying to get the boys to the 2012 Afcon finals,” said Nyatanga.
“He is a true leader and we believe that as long as he is in charge of Zifa, there are a lot of good things on the way for our football because he is a real father.
“But we also believe that Zifa should also start planning now for the next assignments and we have the World Cup and 2013 Afcon qualifiers around the corner and we don’t want to see the same problems that were there when we started the last campaign without a substantive coach.
“Dube has said there is no need to change the coaching staff and that is good news because we believe Norman Mapeza and his players have bonded and, if we give them a little bit of more time and support coming from the companies and the Government, they can produce a team that can win us the African title.”
Nyatanga also thanked the Government officials who tried to get them a charter flight to Cape Verde last week.
“We tried our best and a lot of ministers really gave us their time and we want to thank them for trying their best even though we couldn’t go, in the end, to support the boys,” said Nyatanga.
“But we believe this should not be the end but the beginning and we are excited about the challenges that now lie ahead of us. That is why we believe we should have a day out with the boys tomorrow (today) just to remind them that they are special and we are together in all this. We want to thank our sponsors, Mr and Mrs Audi, for being there for us and they are the ones who have made this possible.”
The banquet will be held this evening at Jazz 105 Restaurant in the capital.
Online Reporter