ARIAL Sibanda, 5/10: Sibanda was visibly nervous in what was without doubt the biggest game of his career. He struggled to cut the crosses from the outset, which gave the Angolans confidence during the setpieces. He made a couple of key saves later in the match though.
Noel Kaseke, 5/10: Badly exposed for the second goal when he was left for dead by Djalma, whose ensuing cross was converted by Manucho. That moment seemed to affect his confidence, but he recovered in the second half and was involved in cutting some of the hosts’ raids.
Onismor Bhasera, 4/10: With little space to operate in, he failed to make any impression on proceedings. With a lot of attacking players in front of him, the Plymouth Argyle defender was kept busy doing the defensive work.
Esrom Nyandoro, 6/10: The veteran utility player was probably Zimbabwe’s best player on the day. He compensated his lack of pace with good timing and on few occasions had the extra energy to venture forward after realising that the midfield was struggling.
Carrington Nyadombo, 3/10: The gangly AmaZulu defender had been assigned to man-mark Manucho during the setpieces. However, he left Manucho completely unmarked for the first goal before he was also caught off position for the second.
His tackles on the player during open play were mostly late. He came out second best on most of the occasions after failing to keep up with Manucho’s off-the-ball runs.
Vusa Nyoni, 3/10: Never got into the game playing in a central midfield role with Nengomasha. He lost the ball needlessly on a number of occasions, which left Nyadombo with no option but to come from deep into defence to quell the situation. He was duly substituted immediately after halftime.
Tinashe Nengomasha, 3/10: This was probably one of his worst performances for the national team. He was uncharacteristically a pale shadow of the hustling anchorman we had become accustomed to and on most occasions on Sunday he was easily shaken off the ball by the Angolans. It’s surprising how he lasted the entire 90 minutes.
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Archford Gutu, 3/10: Was the most visible of the Warriors midfielders as he managed to string a few passes with Khama Billiat and Knowledge Musona. He, however, ran out of steam in the second half and at times was too elaborate when the basics could have been more effective.
Knowledge Musona, 5/10: Did a decent job playing in an unfamiliar wide role in national colours. Forced the Angolans’ keeper Lama into making his toughest save of the match in the first half and was a handful in the second half although it didn’t yield a goal.
Cuthbert Malajila, 4/10: Had by far the Warriors’ best chance of the match when he was just too slow to arrive at the far post to connect Billiat’s cross. Besides that chance, his first touch let him down on a number of occasions and he was rarely a threat to the Angolans.
Khama Billiat, 5/10: Created a couple of good chances, but in most instances his decision-making was poor. In one instance, he chose the difficult path of going for the far top corner when he could have crossed to an unmarked Musona.
Substitutes
Kingstone Nkhata, 4/10: He brought in the much-needed physical presence in the second half, which intimidated the Angolans. He, however, lacked the composure in some instances when he had time to control the ball and pick his space. His positioning was also not up to scratch.
Edward Sadomba, 4/10: Sadomba brought width in the match, but tended to hold on to the ball for too long which allowed the Angolans to track back and recover.
Denver Mukamba: Had very little time to make an impact in the match.
