daniel chigunwe
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
IN about six weeks’ time, the Warriors will embark on a crucial 2026 World Cup qualifying battle against Benin to mark the beginning of what could turn out to be a big year for Zimbabwean football.
Playing for the first time after normalcy has returned to the association with the election of a new ZIFA board, Zimbabwe have at least six Group C FIFA World Cup games lined up before closing the year in Morocco at the AFCON finals.
ZIFA Technical Director Jethro Hunidzarira yesterday told Zimpapers Sports Hub that the association have a big task on their hands to prepare the team.
He suggested that authorities expedite the renovations at the National Sports Stadium for the World Cup qualifiers and has in mind a longer training camp either in Europe or North Africa ahead of the AFCON finals.
“We don’t want to bite more than we can chew. But it’s critical that we have very good preparations,” said Hunidzarira.
“I think if we can manage to have an international camp, crucially around a month or so, which is very difficult because most of our players will be in mid-season.
“Most of the European leagues, they restart in August. So, it’s a bit tricky for us to have a long camp. Maybe the only likely thing that could happen is if we can have a camp somewhere in Europe or in North Africa where we can assimilate to the conditions, and manage to have all the players in.
“The timing has to be right.”
He added:
“I think (AFCON) it’s a fair draw to me and I can see we are the underdogs in the group. We have played these teams before on different occasions and we have had mixed results with them but at least the underdog tag that they have given us, I think it puts us in a safe place.
“It now depends on the way we are going to prepare ourselves, which is very critical. We need to prepare properly and I’m sure we can progress from the group games and go to the knockout stage.
“We read that the South African coach has written us off already, that they can beat us. It’s just that we are not bigger than anybody else.”
