The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Sports Reporter
FACING three of the best four teams on the continent in what many have called the Afcon 2016 Group of Death could eventually work in Warriors’ favour when the continental soccer showpiece gets underway in Ganon next year, pundits believe.
| The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals draw that took place yesterday in Libreville, Gabon and the Warriors were placed in Group B together with giants Algeria, Senegal and Tunisia – the second, third and fourth highest ranked teams on the continent. |
But the pedigree of Zimbabwe’s group stage opponents has not shaken retired Fifa panel match official and Zifa High Performance technical Committee member Masimba Chihowa who believes the only most important thing is how we are going to prepare for the biggest football competition on the continent.
The Chancellor Primary School head, who has officiated at the highest level on the continent including that explosive final 2010 World Cup qualifier pitting Ivory Coast and Guinea, warned against shoddy preparations ahead of the Gabon 2017 tournament.
Just like highly-rated Uganda’s Serbian coach, Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic, who tipped the Warriors to go all the way, Chihowa believes that on the field of play the Warriors are also as good as their group stage opponents in terms of quality and depth.
Masimba Chihowa
“It is a tough group, no two ways about that. All the teams that we are going to play in Group B have tasted success on different occasions and they have quality within their rank and file. I know the games will be very technical
“But I personally think that it is good for us to be in that group. If you look at it closely they are not high scoring teams and that means all that matters is going to be our approach to the games. Added to that, we currently have quality players in our team who can match players from those teams man for man.
“However, it all depends on how we are going to prepare for these games. We can never expect to find it easy if we fail to put our act together in time. This is the time that the powers that be in our football need to listen to people who can add value to our game and I am talking about people like Sunday Chidzambwa, who has been there before. I am talking about people like Moses Chunga who have played at the highest level. That way, we can get what we want. Overally I do not see us failing if we get our things right,” said Chihowa.
Vice chairman Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association Phil Mbofana thinks the current crop of Warriors have what it takes to compete at the highest level but there is need to have thorough preparations. “I do not think that there is really out of the ordinary playing Algeria, Senegal and Tunisia in the same group but all we need is thorough preparations. We have a good squad that can take us places only if we get adequate preparations,” said Mbofana.
Phil Mbofana
Former Monomotapa gaffer Rodwell Dhakama is of the opinion that Coach Calisto Pasuwa and his men have the advantage of being taken for minnow yet the squad has depth in talent.
“I think the pressure will be on Algeria, Senegal and Tunisia. They are the ones that are expected to make light work of us but to our advantage we have the squad that has depth in talent. I am quite sure that we will go all the way but that also depends on how we prepare for the games,” he said.
Group A will be based in Libreville, Group B, where the Warriors belong will have their group stage matches in Franceville, Group C in Oyem with Port Gentil hosting teams in Group D.
In Wednesday night’s draw, Zimbabwe was placed in Pot 4 alongside Togo, Uganda and Guinea Bissau, whom they all could be placed in the same group with.
The Warriors could have however been drawn with any one of the Pot 1 clique that comprised of Algeria, Ghana, champions Ivory Coast or hosts Gabon.
In Pot Two, there is Tunisia, Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal, while Pot Three contains former champions Cameroon, Senegal, Morocco and Egypt.
In coming up with the seedings, the Caf organising committee considered performances at Afcon finals in 2012, 2013 and 2015 among other criteria and the Warriors missed out on those three editions of the tournament.
The qualifiers for the 2013, 2015 and 2017 tournaments were also considered.
While Zimbabwe did well in the qualifiers for the January tournament after qualifying with a game to spare following their victory over Malawi in June, the 2013 and 2015 campaigns were disastrous and the Warriors paid for the poor showing in those qualifiers.
The Warriors, who captured the imagination of many with their near-flawless game despite being subjected to difficult conditions in the build-up to their matches to become the only team from the southern region to qualify for the Gabon tournament, could, with better preparations, go and defy odds.
The continental football showpiece, to be held in Gabon, will be played from January 14 to February 5.
