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Willard Katsande

Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor—

WARRIORS skipper Willard Katsande believes that only a regular appearance at the African Cup for Nations could give Zimbabwe the kind of experience they need to mount a better challenge for honours at the showcase.

Katsande yesterday said he believed the Warriors could not be as competitive as the nation wants them to be if they appeared at the tournament between lengthy absences.

The 31-year-old midfielder noted that experience played a huge part for teams that progressed beyond the group stages, a level which the Warriors have so far found too high to climb.

Katsande reckoned that had they been making regular appearances at the tournament, the Warriors would have made an even bigger impact and competed beyond just the group stage as they would have built on their experience from previous campaigns.

Of the Zimbabwe delegation that was in Gabon, only team manager Sharif Mussa, team doctor Nick Munyonga and chef Dexter Mamhunze had previous Nations Cup experience ,while everyone else was a rookie as there were no survivors from the Class of 2006 that was under the captaincy of Peter Ndlovu.

Katsande and his troops flattered to deceive with their fine showing in the opening match against Algeria, which ended 2-2 and was pregnant with promise, only to fall to giants Senegal and former champions Tunisia.

That the Warriors were just eight minutes away from a famous opening match win over the Desert Foxes not only lifted the spirits of their supporters at home and across the globe, but it gave them so much hope and belief that they may have finally come of age.

But, as is common knowledge now, the reality check was to come in the second assignment against a Senegal side that handed them a 2-0 defeat and a brutal lesson on the difference in the level of competitiveness.

The defeat to the Lions of Teranga also badly exposed a host of the Warriors shortcomings individually and collectively and technically and tactically.

All the hopes of writing yet another chapter to what had promised to be a Cinderella story in Gabon were then dashed when the Warriors were hammered 4-2 by Tunisia.

In the end, the Class of 2017 hogged the limelight for the wrong reasons — they became the first Zimbabwean side to leave the Nations Cup without a win.

In the aftermath of their Gabon disaster, the Warriors’ defence emerged as the senior side’s Achilles Heel, with Costa Nhamoinesu, the erratic Elisha Muroiwa, Hardlife Zvirekwi and Onismor Bhasera guilty of poor performances, it remains a mystery how they were allowed to continue manning the rearguard for goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva for all the three games without some changes being made.

Katsande yesterday acknowledged their defensive frailties and other shortcomings but insisted that there is need to build on the positives that emerged from the Warriors’ sojourn in Gabon.

The Kaizer Chiefs hardman also reckoned that they had enjoyed their participation at the tournament despite their losses.

“The AFCON was good, we enjoyed every minute . . . the atmosphere was unbelievable. Since I started playing football I never enjoyed it like that.

“But in terms of the games, I feel we should have done better with our defending and compactness.

“We wanted to resist conceding so that we can hurt them (opponents) because we all saw that after 15 minutes we would play some fantastic football,’’ Katsande said.

The 31-year-old midfielder said he was hopeful the Warriors will be able to build from their Nations Cup experience and ensure they return for the 2019 finals, whose qualifiers begin in June.

“Now we need to build on all the positives we picked from the past edition and work hard to qualify for 2019, then we can talk of going further.

“I think Zimbabwe has quality to go further in such tournaments but we must be regulars of this tournament . . . it is good for our football and it is the only way we can compete,’’ said Katsande.

ZIFA vice-president Omega Sibanda, who led the Warriors delegation in Gabon, said they were now awaiting Pasuwa’s report before deliberating on it as an executive committee and at the High Performance Committee.

Sibanda said it was imperative that ZIFA take a look at what the coach’s observations were and what his recommendations would be.

“As head of delegation, I have already submitted my report to the president, but the coach’s report is submitted to the executive and normally those reports should be in within seven days.

“We will meet as an executive once we have had sight of the coach’s report, where he will tell us what transpired and what recommendations he would have made and we then take it from there and as soon as all the reports are there, we will see when best to meet and this is also done in conjunction with the High Performance Committee,’’ Sibanda said.

The Confederation of African Football’s technical study group will also present a technical report on the tournament, which will also evaluate each individual team and will be discussed by the coaches and association technical directors after the competition.