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NewsDay

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Warriors to play Burundi

Sport
After two weeks of turmoil and no goals, Warriors coach Rahman Gumbo believes the national football team will break their duck when they clash with Burundi in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) second leg qualifier at the National Sports Stadium (NSS) tomorrow. The Warriors are trailing 2-1 from the first leg played in […]

After two weeks of turmoil and no goals, Warriors coach Rahman Gumbo believes the national football team will break their duck when they clash with Burundi in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) second leg qualifier at the National Sports Stadium (NSS) tomorrow.

The Warriors are trailing 2-1 from the first leg played in Burundi in February and need an outright win to progress to the next stage of the qualifiers, while the visitors will be content with a draw. Kickoff is 3pm.

A total of 14 matches were scheduled from last night until tomorrow and winners go through to the draw for the final round of qualifying, set for the host country on July 5.

In the last two matches in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, the Warriors lost 1-0 to Guinea at home and drew 0-0 away to Mozambique, in games they could easily have won had there been accuracy by the strikers in front of goal.

Zimbabwes chances have also not been helped by off-the-field developments where top striker Knowledge Musona and Ovidy Karuru are said, by Zifa, to have met a suspected member of the Asiagate match-fixing scandal after the Mozambique match.

This coincided with the withdrawal of Karuru from tomorrows game after he cracked ribs during the Mozambique match last Sunday while Musona, also limping, has been training with the Warriors and is expected to play tomorrow.

Willard Katsande was also an injury worry, but has been taking part in the training sessions, making him available for the match.

Seeing that these developments would likely cause divisions in the camp, the Warriors technical department met the players yesterday morning for a psychological pep talk ahead of tomorrows do-or-die encounter.

Coach Rahman Gumbo believes after yesterdays discussion with the team, everything is settled and focus is solely on delivering the goals tomorrow.

We had a psychological meeting with the guys in the morning and I am happy to say that we are all focused on the game. Fine, there could have been tensions here and there and a lot of things going on, but we are now ready to play.

We want to break the goal duck this time around. They (Burundi) have that one-goal advantage, but that is now history and we have to make up for that loss, Gumbo said.

The Warriors trained at Motor Action Sports Club yesterday afternoon, moving away from the NSS, where they had been scheduled to have two training sessions. Burundi on the other hand will go into this clash knowing that a draw will be good enough to send them through to the next round.

The Swallows trained at Prince Edward School grounds in the afternoon.

Star player Valery Nahayo was due in late last night. Nahayo scored a late winner during the first leg and a good defensive performance will be required from him and the rest of the team in order to keep Zimbabwe at bay.

The Swallows have never qualified for the Afcon and will be looking to move one step closer to their dream at the expense of the Warriors. The Warriors last visit to the NSS ended with fans, mainly in Bays 15, 16, 17 and 18, hurling missiles at Guinea players and the Warriors technical team following the loss.

The fans, according to sources, could be back again for more mayhem should the result not go as expected. Yesterday, former Warriors winger Joel Luphahla called on the fans to put aside their differences and back the national team to victory.

Fans have been divided into two camps the Warriors Friends Club (WFC) and the Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association with each group accusing the other of being sponsored.

The WFC is led by one Tendai T-Buns Zhakata and is believed to be pro-Zifa while the other is led by Eddie Mboma Nyatanga and is understood to be anti-Zifa, leaving people to wonder whether they are both genuine or just ends to a means to destabilise the national team.

The Footballers Union of Zimbabwe yesterday expressed their full support for the players. We respect you for the desire that you have to represent our country.

You have made us proud in your performances, be they wins or losses. You have shown that you have the potential to take us to Afcon and to where we have never been the World Cup in the near future.

You are capable of beating any team in the world. Go out there and play to the best of your abilities we know you can do it. You are our ambassadors.

Everyone loves you, the fans are behind you and we are there for you. Fly the Zimbabwe flag high, said the union.