THE Warriors face off Seychelles in their last Group A match at the Sam Nujoma Stadium tonight, hoping for divine intervention in their bid to qualify for the knockout stages of the Cosafa tournament currently underway in Namibia.
Warriors during their afternoon training session at Gateway school yesterday
But Kalisto Pasuwa’s men must already be studying flight schedules after a sluggish start to the regional football tournament which saw them stuttering to a 0-0 draw against Madagascar on Monday night.
The result left them third in the group and two points behind joint leaders Swaziland and Madagascar following their 2-2 draw with the former in their opening match of the campaign.
With Swaziland hammering Seychelles 4-0 on Monday, the Warriors will be praying fervently that Swaziland and Madagascar, who face off in the other Group A match tonight, play to a draw.
If that happens, the Warriors still need to bury Seychelles by at least five unanswered goals to finish top of the group, which would see them advancing to the last eight of the tournament.
It is only that sequence of results that could see the Warriors progress to the next stage, where Zambia await the winners of this pool.
However, with the way Pasuwa’s men squandered opportunities against Madagascar, it’s a mission impossible.
Zimbabwe, still basking in the glow of the Warriors’ qualification for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals to be hosted in Gabon with a game to spare after a convincing victory over the Flames of Malawi, have looked very ordinary at the Cosafa tournament without their foreign-based stars.
There is only one foreign-based player, Charlton Mashumba, in the team taking part at the regional tournament, but the Jomo Cosmos striker was guilty of missing chances against Madagascar. His strike partner veteran Obadiah Tarumbwa was also found wanting in front of goal.
Zimbabwe are one of the most successful teams at the regional tournament, having won the tournament a record four times. Zambia have also lifted the Cosafa Cup on four occasions.
Yet, the Warriors could find themselves crashing out of the tournament in the first round for the second successive year.
Last year, Pasuwa’s men, then under the guidance of his assistant Saul Chaminuka, displayed a lacklustre show at the Cosafa tournament in South Africa which saw them bowing out at the preliminary stage after they were handed a 4-1 hammering by Namibia.
While Pasuwa has proved his credentials at club and senior national team level, winning four successive titles with Dynamos and becoming the third coach to qualify Zimbabwe to the Afcon finals, he is yet to make a mark on the regional tournament.-Newsday