Zimpapers Logo

Robson Sharuko in CAIRO, Egypt

BOTHWELL MAHLENGWE, the former domestic Premiership footballer and Herald football blogger, says the Warriors have been their own enemies by giving too much respect to opponents and only finding their range, and belief, once they fall behind at this AFCON finals.

Mahlengwe, who started his career at Black Aces and ended up captaining Sporting Lions before taking the role of team manager at Division One side La Liga, feels the Warriors would have been in a far better position today than the one they find themselves in had they believed.

‘’I think we respect opponents too much. We only started playing after conceding. Maybe, we lack self-belief. We had good combination play between our offensive players, (Knowledge) Musona, Khama (Billiat), (Ovidy) Karuru and Talent (Chawapiwa),’’ he said in his analysis of the game and tournament.

‘’We could have got, at least, three goals but missed chances are part of the game. We could have been punished but we were lucky.

‘’Our midfield was a bit shaky, with Deco (Danny Phiri) and (Thabani) Kamusoko failing to stamp their authority. Lucky Karuru was lively making our forwards tick.

‘’The tempo we played with, soon after conceding, was so high such that it was obvious some players would tire. We needed to replace them with like-for-like players like Kuda Mahachi for Talent.

I felt (Marshall) Munetsi did better than Kamusoko and Deco n the little time he played. Maybe, he should have started. We also need to be aware of critical areas, we are losing balls in dangerous areas and getting punished.

‘’The goals we have conceded are from balls lost unnecessarily.’’

Mahlengwe said, if he was the coach, he would field Knowledge Musona any day and time.

‘’I will play Musona as long as he is physically fit. He is our captain and has carried us many times,’’ he said. ‘’I believe he will, again. He is always a threat when in the box.

‘’Arguably, the most threatening player Zimbabwe have in the box. Missing clear chances happens every day even to the best in the world. Yes, we will blame him but life goes on. He will come right.

‘’I have always wanted to understand why coaches do what they do. Play this player and this player. Substitute this and replace with this.

‘’The DRC won’t be an easy game. We will have to dig deep. Everyone should be prepared to fight. What we don’t need is to concede early and first.

‘’I don’t see this team playing badly. Individually, we have technically-gifted players whom l think could have done better if they were from West and North Africa. Our weak link is the midfield and l think losing Nakamba has been a big blow.’’

He said the Pharaohs will beat Uganda and the Warriors can qualify as either second or third if they win against the DRC.

‘’Egypt have to win, and they will win. That’s guaranteed. They are miles ahead of Uganda. They will also need to send a huge message to other teams and collecting all the group nine points will do just that,’’ said Mahlengwe.

‘’All we need to do is to win our match against DRC. Scoring first will unsettle them. And it might make them lose hope and give up. I am assuming there is already dissatisfaction in the DRC camp and we will see changes to the teams they have used so far.

‘’In short, we need to be focused, clinical and patient. From what l have seen, so far, we can match any team that is there. We just need to believe.’’

Young Warriors manager, Patrick Mutesva, believes the Congolese will be tough opponents for the Warriors.

‘’My analysis is that the DRC will be more dangerous than the two teams we played against, they need some points to exit the tournament with some dignity, the defeat by Warriors in the qualifiers is still fresh in their minds and, obviously, they are up for a revenge,’’ he said.

‘’Vakomana vedu vakasanyatsotaurwa navo zvakanaka, they might go into this game with a mentality that the DRC team are the whipping boys, so we are obviously going to win but, after 90 minutes, it will be a draw or loss.’’