Coaches back Warriors to excel at AFCON

Langton Nyakwenda

Zimpapers Sports Hub

THE first coach to take Zimbabwe to the Africa Cup of Nations finals, Sunday “Mhofu” Chidzambwa, believes the country would have fared better in previous finals had it not been for the perennial administrative gaffes at ZIFA.

Chidzambwa was in charge when Zimbabwe made their maiden appearance at the 2004 Nations Cup finals in Tunisia.

The Warriors then, in a tough group that included Egypt, Cameroon, and Algeria, failed to progress beyond the group stage.

Since Chidzambwa took the Warriors to their Nations Cup bow 21 years ago, the senior side has gone on to appear at the biennial tourney in 2006 (Egypt), 2017 (Gabon), 2019 (Egypt), and the 2021 finals in Cameroon.

However, on all those occasions, including two of their six AFCON appearances, the nation has failed to break the group stage jinx.

The Warriors will make their sixth appearance at the AFCON finals in Morocco in December amid renewed hope, following the election of a new ZIFA leadership last weekend.

Nqobile Magwizi was elected president and will be deputised by the pair of Kennedy Ndebele and Loveness Mukura.

Magwizi flew out to Morocco on Sunday, where he witnessed the AFCON draw in Rabat on Monday night.

Zimbabwe were pooled in Group B alongside seven-time champions Egypt, 2023 bronze medallists South Africa, and bogey side Angola.

It is a fair group in which Chidzambwa feels the Warriors could have a huge say.

“It’s a tough group. I agree, but with the current crop of players we have and this new ZIFA board, which is led by Nqobile Magwizi, I think we can be able to get to the second round,” says Chidzambwa.

“I also feel the main reason why we couldn’t do so in the past was because of the administrative problems and monetary issues. “I have a feeling this new board can overcome these issues,” he added.

Chidzambwa was one of the over 30 candidates who contested for the six ordinary board member positions.

But the veteran gaffer did not garner enough votes to earn a place on the board.

Brighton Ushendibaba, Alice Zeure, Kudzai Kadzombe, Davison Muchena, Thomas Marambanyika, and Tafadzwa Benza make up the new board.

Administrative boobs have often characterized the Warriors’ build-up to AFCON finals.

Issues to do with appearance fees and winning bonuses usually dominate the headlines whenever Zimbabwe are preparing for a tournament. Norman Mapeza was in charge of the Warriors at the 2021 finals, which were played a year later in Cameroon.

He too failed to lead them into the second round amid murmurs of internal strife in the Warriors camp. Mapeza thinks Zimbabwe can only do better if preparations are taken seriously.

“It looks like a difficult group on paper, but at the end of the day, it boils down to preparations,” says Mapeza.

The FC Platinum gaffer wants Zimbabwe to take advantage of the remaining World Cup qualifiers and fine-tune ahead of the AFCON finals, which kick off on December 21.

“We still have World Cup qualifiers to play, and I think we can use those games to prepare.

“We have almost a year to prepare, and we should start now. The good thing is we have a good team that has been doing well in their recent matches.”

The Warriors will play six World Cup qualifiers between March and October.

They are set to host Benin on March 17, before travelling to Nigeria a week later.

In September Zimbabwe will play Benin away before hosting Rwanda.

They will complete their World Cup qualifying campaign in October, with fixtures against South Africa (home) and Lesotho (away).

The Warriors’ preparations have been boosted by a US$1 million pledge from Government via the national fiscus, but in Egypt, Angola, and South Africa, they face tough hurdles. Chicken Inn’s former Warriors coach, Joey “Mafero” Antipas, has described it as the Group of Death.

“We have Egypt, the top seeds, then you have Angola, who did well during the qualifiers, and South Africa, who are playing at a level higher than us,” reckons Antipas.

“But we now have a new ZIFA Board, and I am sure they will make money available for the players. That’s what our football needs; you need money to progress to the second round. But we could have a de-cent run out there. We just need to get our heads down and come up with a plan for the AFCON finals.”