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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
WHEN Sunday Chidzambwa finally found a way to end the Warriors’ long 23-year wait for a place at the Nations Cup finals, Gabon played a huge part in that success story by beating Sierra Leone as the curtain came down on the qualifiers.

With only their pride to play for, having been eliminated from the qualifiers for a dance at the 2004 AFCON finals in Tunisia, Gabon turned on the style to beat Sierra Leone 2-0 and ensure the Warriors would, at long last, celebrate qualification for the Nations Cup showcase as one of the best runners-up.

Had Sierra Leone won that encounter, which was played a day after the Warriors had ended their campaign, the West Africans would have elbowed Chidzambwa’s men in a tight race for the final spot reserved for two of the best runners-up nations on goal difference with the two countries ending their campaign with 13 points each.

Now, after a 10-year absence the Warriors are preparing to return to another dance with Africa’s best football nations and, with Gabon featuring prominently in the story as they provide the setting for that show, Chidzambwa is going down memory lane.

And yesterday he joined the debate about the Warriors’ preparations ahead of the 2017 AFCON show.

Chidzambwa, who has been appointed into the ZIFA High Performance Committee, and has the experience of not only having led the Warriors to their maiden Nations Cup finals’ appearance but guided them to their first victory at the showcase when they beat Algeria 2-1 in Tunisia, believes it’s virtually impossible to have adequate preparations for the team.

The veteran gaffer said it was unfortunate that the Warriors were not part of the 2018 World Cup show and, unlike 13 of the teams that will play at the 2017 Nations Cup finals, they will not use the qualifiers for the global football showcase — whose matches are set for October and November — as part of their build-up to Gabon.

The Warriors were expelled from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, without kicking a ball, after the old ZIFA leadership failed to pay a debt owed to Brazilian coach Valinhos while their dance with the 2022 World Cup qualifiers was only secured after ZIFA benefactor Wicknell Chivayo paid more than $180 000 to offset the debt owed to Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet.

Gabon, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Algeria, Ghana, Egypt, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tunisia are the 13 countries, who will be playing at the 2017 Nations Cup finals, who will be involved in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in October and November.

“It’s unfortunate that we were not part of the World Cup qualifiers because I think with the team that we have we would have made the grade to be among the 20 teams that are left fighting for the five tickets to be in Russia,” said Chidzambwa.

“Our coach could have used the World Cup matches set for October and November, which are going to be very competitive given that he would have been facing some of the best teams in Africa, as part of his build-up for the AFCON finals.

“It would have been a huge advantage for us but even if we try to use those FIFA World Cup dates for friendly matches, which countries can we play since the best countries, whom we need to play against if these friendlies are going to improve our team, would be committed to the World Cup fixtures?

“If you look at the teams that have qualified for the 2017 AFCON finals, most of them come from West and North Africa and those are the countries we would have loved to play at the next FIFA dates for national team matches, to prepare ourselves fully for Gabon, but most of these countries that we could have played will be playing their World Cup matches.

“It’s not just about having friendly matches but having the right opposition and also bringing in all the players who form part of our team, the likes of Musona, Billiat, Nhamoinesu, Nakamba, Rusike, for those matches so that the coach can work on combinations and see where he can improve the team.

“These players can only be released by their clubs during FIFA dates but we don’t have many dates left now and, crucially, we might not get the opposition that can help us improve because they will be committed during the next two World Cup dates.”

African countries will play the World Cup qualifiers from the weekend of October 3 while another round of fixtures will be held from November 7 this year.

The Belgian top-flight league only takes a break on December 27 and resumes on January 21 next year which means that there could no time for someone like Musona to go into an extended camp for the Warriors ahead of the 2017 Nations Cup finals.

The Czech Republic top-flight league takes a break on December 3 2016 and resumes on February 18 next year, which means that Costa Nhamoinesu could get enough time to be involved in an extended training camp for the Warriors, while the Dutch top-flight league — where Marvellous Nakamba plies his trade — takes a break on December 18 and resumes on January 13.

The South African Premiership takes a break on December 21 and resumes on February 7 while the Swedish top-flight ends on November 6 this year.