THE Warriors begin their quest for a place in the 2015 Orange Africa Cup of Nations finals tomorrow against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam.
NewsDay Editorial
Given that there are no more small teams in African football, the Warriors should be wary of taking the Taifa Stars lightly in this first leg encounter.
They must ensure that they bring home a favourable result from this trip if we are to entertain any hopes of progressing to the next stage.
Yes, there have been withdrawals in camp, in particular Willard Katsande and Kingston Nkhatha, but coach Ian Gorowa is a very positive man who has set himself realistic targets as Warriors coach. We can certainly not mourn the absence of this pair because we believe we have a talented and dedicated group of players that left for Tanzania yesterday.
Gorowa’s first target, since taking over last year, was to reach the knockout phase of the Chan finals early this year in South Africa and he surpassed that — reaching the last four. After that massive achievement, the Warriors must now go a step further and reach the Afcon finals.
This is very realistic and the coach and his troops deserve all the support from the media, the government, the fans and Zifa to ensure this dream comes true.
If they sail past Tanzania, they will play South Sudan or Mozambique and if they win, they will join Zambia, the Cape Verde Islands and Niger in the final qualifying phase.
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We have belief in the players that Gorowa has selected for this mission and we say while the road to Morocco is long, you can do it.
We have no doubt that the players have actually seen the benefits of dancing with the best on the continent. Kuda Mahachi is going to France and has already been signed by Mamelodi Sundowns, Simba Sithole now plays for Ajax Cape Town, George Chigova has moved to SuperSport United and Eric Chipeta will join Chippa United in South Africa.
Even before that, after a good performance at the Cosafa Castle Cup in Zambia last year, Tendai Ndoro was snapped by Mpumalanga Black Aces and after just three months in South Africa, two of the well-resourced clubs in the South African league — Sundowns and Supersport want his signature.
Zifa has been lucky to receive the support of Sport, Arts and Culture minister Andrew Langa after the false hullaballoo of Cuthbert Dube’s re-election, meaning, at least, some government support will be coming the Warriors way.
We hope the board will remain united to achieve this goal, although are a bit worried with the speed with which vice-president Omega Sibanda is moving. He is in charge of the referees committee, but also seems to be usurping the powers of fellow board member Tawengwa Hara, who was tasked with interfacing with the national team.
We know there are those who are waiting for Zifa and the Warriors to fail. But this time, we say never, the Warriors will be playing in Morocco next year and we say so with confidence because we believe in the talents of the coach and his players.
Saboteurs are there everywhere, but this time around, we say swallow your pride and associate yourself with the winning brand because in Morocco it’s where we shall be come January next year!
