Zimpapers Logo

FEEL IT, IT’S PAINFUL . . . Warriors goalkeeper Herbert Rusawo, who missed a decisive penalty in the shoot-out at the National Sports Stadium yesterday shows his disappointment after the match

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
Zimbabwe ……………… (1) 1

Namibia …………………….0

(1-1 on aggregate and Zimbabwe lose 4-5 on penalties)

FOR the first time, the Warriors will not grace the finals of the Africa Nations Championships after a disjointed show at the National Sports Stadium that saw them crash out in the penalty shoot-out lottery.

Prince Dube’s solitary strike in the first half secured a home win for Zimbabwe, but the narrow victory was not enough to take the poor Warriors through to the third and final qualifying round as they had lost the first leg 1-0 in Windhoek, Namibia, last week.

The Warriors, who needed to win by at least a two-goal margin, failed to take the initiative at home and the match had to be decided by kicks from the spot.

The anti-climax of this two-legged qualifier was when Zimbabwe goalkeeper Herbert Rusawo’s spot kick was saved by his opposite number Edward Maova, who turned the hero for the visitors after he came in as a second half substitute for the injured Lloydt Kazapua.

Devon Chafa, Milton Ncube and Praise Tonha had converted their kicks, but the Brave Warriors swung the pendulum in their favour after Rusawo’s poor effort was punched to safety.

Warriors skipper Dennis Dauda managed to keep the game alive when he sneaked the ball past Maova, but Welwin Riaan and substitute Immanuel Heita sealed the win for the Brave Warriors as Rusawo was beaten five times from the spot.

Namibia will now meet surprise packages Comoros Islands in the final qualifier after the Indian Ocean islanders edged Lesotho 2-1 on aggregate.

Namibia’s coach Ricardo Mannetti said Zimbabwe were the favourites but lacked the kind of spirit that was demonstrated by his side, which featured players that have not known domestic football for over a year because of challenges back home.

“I think Zimbabwe were better than us. Technically they have very good players. They have more depth than us and also from the match fitness point of view. I count myself fortunate and I am very proud of this achievement that we beat a powerhouse like Zimbabwe.

“That is a very big achievement for Namibia. It’s not every day that you beat a country like Zimbabwe. But over and above that Zimbabwe were better prepared throughout the year than us.

“They had a league running, you had depth and could even drop some players that were at COSAFA to bring in some CAPS United players that were playing in the Champions League. We don’t even have clubs playing in the Champions League for that matter.

“So Zimbabwe, individually and as a team, are better than Namibia but when you take it on the day Namibia had a better fight. Namibia wanted it more and I think throughout the two legs, home and away, we wanted it more even though we were playing against a stronger team than us,” said Manneti.

Coach Sunday Chidzambwa’s men disappointed their faithfuls with a pathetic performance.

Namibia looked the better side on many occasions with their forwards Hendrik Somaeb, Hamunua Keimune, Petrus Shitembi and winger Welwin Riaan creating all sorts of problems for Zimbabwe’s fullbacks.

The changes that were made by Zimbabwe by bringing in Devon Chafa, Ronald Chitiyo, Abbas Amidu, Simon Munawa, Marshal Mudehwe and Honest Moyo could not break down the Namibians.

The decision to play Amidu as a left winger in a year he has played as a centre striker for CAPS United was poor.

But Praise Tonha had a good game on the right-back as he had to deal with the constant threats posed by the roving Riaan while coming in handy when going forward.

Although the Warriors could not make meaningful build-ups, they still managed to find the breakthrough they needed moments before the breather when Prince Dube hustled for the ball at the edge of the box and slid it under goalkeeper Kazapua’s frame from close range.

Apart from Chitiyo’s powerful drive in the 63rd minute, which forced a good save from the keeper, Zimbabwe toiled in vain all afternoon with no clear chances being created upfront.

Chidzambwa said they lost because he had not adequately prepared for the qualifier.

“We were forced to make many changes. Also we had less time to prepare for this tournament. The only time that we had with the full squad was on Friday, that’s the only day we had a full squad in training.

“In this tournament you would need a bit of time to prepare. I think our counterparts were in camp since they left the COSAFA tournament. So you don’t really prepare a team in a short space of time.

“However, in this game I think we were unlucky. As a new team I think we defended very well and we should have actually fought to find a second goal, which we couldn’t manage to do.

“Otherwise the team we put played well, I am pleased with their performance since we had only one full day of training,” said Chidzambwa.

Teams:

Zimbabwe: H. Rusawo, P. Tonha, H. Moyo (D. Lunga, 68th min), J. Dzingai, D. Dauda, S. Munawa, R. Chitiyo, M. Mudehwe (M. Ncube, 89th min), A. Amidu (L. Mavunga, 60th min), P. Dube

Namibia: L. Kazapua (E. Maova, 49th min), R. Ketjijere, F. Karongee, L. Horaeb, W. Riaan, B. Nenkavu, T. Lombard, D. Fredericks, P. Shitembi, I. Keimune (I. Heita, 60th min), H. Somaeb