Zimbabwe were last night handed a relatively fair draw when they were paired against their Southern African neighbours Angola in the final round qualifier of the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament set for South Africa next year.
The draw was held at Emperors’ Palace at a glittering function here.
The Warriors will host the Negras Palancas of Angola in the first leg of the knockout stage during the weekend of September 7-9 and the return match between October 12 and 14. The winners will qualify for the finals. Should the Warriors go through, they will be part of the finals draw set for October 26 in Durban.
Next year’s Africa Cup will mark the last time that the competition will be held in even-numbered years since Ethiopia staged the 1968 finals. The competition switches to uneven-numbered years from 2013 to avoid every second tournament being staged in the same year as a World Cup.
Defending champions Zambia were handed a duel against East Africans Uganda while the trickiest fixture of the night was between 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finalists Ivory Coast and fellow West African giants Senegal.
The Warriors beat Burundi 1-0 at home for a 2-2 aggregate score that gave them the route to last night’s draw after the away goals rule came into play. Zimbabwe had lost 2-1 in the first leg in Bujumbura inFebruary in what was interim coach Rahman Gumbo’s first match in charge after taking over from the suspended Norman Mapeza.
Gumbo said after the draw: “It’s a fair draw for us and we are playing at home first and we have to take advantage. We really need to prepare for the matches.”
Former Young Warriors coach Phillip Mbofana said: “Psychologically it’s a good draw, but our preparations and application will determine if we will make it.”
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Last night’s draw was conducted by Confederation of African Football secretary-general Hicham El Amrani with the assistance of former Bafana Bafana captain Neil Tovey and legendary Super Eagles striker Daniel Amokachi.
Zimbabwe, alongside Botswana, Cape Verde Islands, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, and Central African Republic, were unseeded. The draw was preceded by the unveiling of the 200 Days Countdown Clock on Tuesday night.
Full 2013 Afcon Draw Mali v Botswana, Angola v Zimbabwe, Ghana v Malawi, Nigeria v Liberia, Zambia v Uganda, Cameroon v Cape Verde, Morocco v Mozambique, Tunisia v Sierra Leone, Guinea v Niger, Sudan v Ethiopia, Algeria v Libya.
