The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
WHILE the gaffe-prone keeper Elvis Chipezeze has once again become the fall guy in the aftermath of the Warriors’ thrashing in Algeria, a number of factors were at play in that
morale-sapping loss.
Zimbabwe went down 3-1 in a Group H African Cup of Nations qualifier and could relinquish the second position if they fail to get a point and Zambia win in Botswana tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s AFCON qualifier will be played in an empty National Sports Stadium with CAF still to allow fans into stadia as part of the Covid-19 protocols.
Although they have never lost an AFCON qualifier at home since 2004, their performance in Algeria brought to the fore some glaring shortcomings within both the coaching department and the playing personnel.
Chipezeze’s blunder, when he spilled Sofiane Feghouli’s shot into the path of Algeria forward Baghdad Bounedjah, who scored the Desert Foxes’ first goal, has remained one of the major talking points of the match, the Warriors’ defence was another big letdown.
Alec Mudimu, who has not played regular football in the last one and half months, looked rusty while left-back Devine Lunga gave Riyad Mahrez too much space to manoeuvre, especially in the build-up to the second goal.
Warriors’ coach Zdravko “Loga” Logarusic’s decision to include an unattached Ovidy Karuru in a midfield that lacked grit backfired badly.
A seemingly tired Karuru was rescued in the 70th minute when an overweight Tafadzwa Rusike came on in a double substitution that saw Kuda Mahachi replacing debutant Jordan Zemura.
Why Loga kept on fire Prince Dube on the bench for the entire 90 minutes, opting to introduce Scotland-based striker David Moyo, who has scored three times in 30 games for Hamilton Academical, remains a mystery.
Moyo replaced Khama Billiat, who has been struggling for form at his club Kaizer Chiefs.
Billiat is no longer as clinical as he was, and his failure to beat Algeria keeper Rais M’Boli after two minutes, was clear evidence of his dip in both form and confidence.
Tino Kadewere, who has hit top form for Olympic Lyon, had three good chances and buried one.
So, gaffer Loga has some homework to do and a lot of questions to answer ahead of tomorrow’s match.
Should he bench Lunga and introduce Notts County defender Adam Chicksen?
Will he start with Karuru again?
Will he finally play Dube, who has been scoring for fun in the Tanzanian Premier League?
Will he throw in FC Platinum keeper Petros Mhari, who has been training with his club ahead of the CAF Champions League matches, or the coach will stick with Talbert Shumba, who replaced the injured Chipezeze in Algiers?
The Croat has been holding regular psyche-up meetings with his players as a group and individually.
Here and there, on probation match analyst Culvin Mavhunga has been chipping in with the much-needed data from the Algeria game. It’s a match, which on any other day Loga’s lads know they would have squeezed a result from had they taken their chances and minimised blunders at the back. It was the Croat’s first competitive game in charge of the Warriors since his appointment in February.
His first-half tactics, centred on ball-retention than enemy-containment backfired, somehow aided by some shocking errors from Chipezeze and some slack marking in the middle of the park and on the left flank.
The Warriors lacked a gritty midfielder in the mould of Danny “Deco” Phiri or former skipper Willard Katsande.
However, some alterations of the formation in the second half balanced the affair and Loga is convinced this time around, his men will get over the line.
“Algeria are a strong team with quality players plying their trade in top leagues across the world,” said Loga.
“They have gone for 21 games now without a defeat.
“Their victims in that road include even the top, top teams on the continent and across the world. But, we matched them in that match on Thursday night right in their own backyard. Of course, we lost that match which I feel was there for the taking, but there were a lot of encouraging factors I picked from that game. We will adjust a bit, in terms of approach and tactics for the home match on Monday (tomorrow).
“This is a match we definitely need to get something from.”
Loga said his team is not under pressure, but will go into tomorrow’s game knowing anything short of a victory will be disastrous to their qualification for the rearranged 2021 AFCON finals (to be played in Cameroon in 2022).
“Remember losing to Algeria in Algiers didn’t suddenly put us under pressure.
“There were a lot of factors playing to our disadvantage. Our preparations and everything else. It’s always hard to play against a team with so much quality when your own arsenal isn’t that active.
“I am talking about the core of my squad which is not playing football in their respective teams. Talk of Khama Billiat and the whole of the South Africa-based crew. They are only two weeks into the league.
“Alec Mudimu has not been playing regularly at his Moldovan club, only featuring once in one and a half months.
“Hadebe (Teenage) last played a while ago at his Turkish side (Yeni Malatyaspor). Nakamba (Marvellous) has seen little game time at Aston Villa. It’s really difficult so to talk of pressure, no it would be far-fetched.
“But, now that we know what the Algerians are capable of doing, well we are braced up, ready to explode.
“I hope my strikers will be clinical this time around. We still have our destiny in our own hands. What we need to do is go there, starve them (Algeria) of the ball and get a result. We are fully aware of where we stand and what we need.
“I have talked about our shortcomings, fair and fine, having players who are not commanding jerseys where they are playing, but we are not looking for excuses, no.
“We are ready for the challenge against Algeria and confident of picking a result since we will be playing on home turf.”
Zambia have reduced the arrears between them and Zimbabwe to a single point after their victory over Botswana and could take their tally to six points if they do a repeat over the same opponents tomorrow.
Algeria top Group H standings with nine points after three rounds of fixtures and the Warriors are second on four points.
Zambia, on three, are third and Botswana, who have a single point to their name anchor the four-team log.
Two teams will earn the ticket to participate in the finals.
