Pasuwa rallies Warriors Callisto Pasuwa
BIRTHDAY BOY . . . Zimbabwe captain Willard Katsande (right) cuts his birthday cake as he celebrates with his teammates in Francesville, Gabon, where they are taking part in the 2017 AFCON finals

BIRTHDAY BOY . . . Zimbabwe captain Willard Katsande (right) cuts his birthday cake as he celebrates with his teammates in Francesville, Gabon, where they are taking part in the 2017 AFCON finals

Mugove Chigada in FRANCEVILLE, Gabon—

WARRIORS coach Callisto Pasuwa believes the team will play with more confidence against Senegal after holding Algeria to a 2-2 draw at the Stade de Franceville on Sunday.

Senegal beat Tunisia 2-0 in the second game of the double header.

“If you defend for a long time, you end up making mistakes, hence you saw us conceding so many corner kicks in a few minutes,” said Pasuwa.

“But again the good thing is that we got a point.

“I think a point is better. I think this will motivate the boys to do a little better in their next game. We didn’t come here to add the numbers and I even said so when we were in our meeting.

“We had problems, but when they were solved, we came here to do business.

“In the first half, we were very offensive and we missed too many chances. Had we put away those chances, we could have buried them.

“In the second half we sat too deep and we conceded the equaliser. Yes, we lost two points because we wanted all three points.”

He said his focus was now on Senegal.

“We are planning for Senegal now and remember they are very physical. They are one of the best teams in Africa. We saw our weaknesses when we played this game.

“And we also saw our strengths. We have to utilise on the strengths that we have as a team. We will then build on that strength going forward.

“Then on the weaknesses, we will have to work on them when we train for the next game tomorrow (today) and Wednesday.”

The Warriors gaffer believes that pulling out Knowledge Musona early in the match affected their plans.

“As you know Musona has been one of our regular players, scoring goals.

“To pull him out in the early stages of the game, it was something else when we look at how we had planned,” said Pasuwa.

He also spoke about Cuthbert Malajila’s miss.

“It is one of those chances that we missed. And there were so many chances that we missed also. We need to bury chances when we get them,” he said.

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse said the Warriors were not underdogs.

“I think for Zimbabwe this is not my first time to see their team. I know Zimbabwe are a very good team.

“They have good players and they have good quality.

“We are very happy to start the competition with a win against Tunisia and it is very important for the confidence.

“The game against Zimbabwe is a massive game, it is a big game. My boys want to go to the second round and if we are to do that, we must do well against Zimbabwe and win the game.”

Warriors defender Costa Nhamoinesu said Khama Billiat makes a difference to the team.

“For me Khama performed very well. He was taking them one on one.

“He has talent, an intelligent guy and he knows how to pick his spaces,” said Nhamoinesu.

“With a bit of chance he could have scored. But overall we are happy he did it for the team.

“When you look at Knowledge he is one of our key players. He is one of our goalscorers and he is also a skilful and technically gifted player.

“Coming out early, I can say it was a blow for us.”

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