The Sunday Mail
Petros Kausiyo in CAIRO, EGYPT
THE line-up of the teams that will battle in the second round of the on-going Africa Cup of Nations here was completed on Tuesday night with Zimbabwe’s Warriors conspicuous by their absence.
The Warriors only managed to get a point from their three Group A games. The pool included group seeds Egypt, DRC, and Uganda.
The class of 2019, long on potential but terribly short on the battling qualities, have nothing to show for all the buzz that characterised the build-up to their Egyptian tour of duty.
The Warriors only needed three points and a good goal difference to advance to the round of 16.
When they arrived in Cairo ahead of their June 21 opener against the Pharaohs, a minimum of four points appeared an achievable target for the Warriors and there were three options for them – top the group, finish second or at worst be among the best four third-place finishers.
Unfortunately, coach Sunday Chidzambwa and his men could not pass that test.
Zimbabwe’s players now join armchair viewers at home and in betting houses while South Africa (with just one win) and DRC (with their 4-0 humiliation of the Warriors) become the cast of teams in the second round.
Guinea (four points), DRC, South Africa and Benin (three points) advanced as the best third-place finishers.
Hastings Kamanga, a Zimbabwean youth development coach based in England, said Zimbabwe’s system of churning out players is faulty, highlighting that is one of the major reasons for the Warriors’ poor performance.
Kamanga, who works for AFC Rushden and Diamonds Youth Academy, also said there is a lack of a proper understanding of the demands of tournament football.
“I thought with the new format we would easily sail through. I think we need to master the art of tournament football, we can only learn this by playing in high level Under-17, 20, 23 tournaments.
“Madagascar made it all the way at the first time of asking and yet we have failed on four appearances at AFCON since 2004. That shows that they are doing something right with their player identification and development. Sadly we are not doing that.
He asked: “How do we go to such a tournament without even a performance analyst?’’
Farai Dhliwayo, chairman of the Challenge Football League – a coalition of Harare academies – agreed with Kamanga.
Dhliwayo said Zifa needs to use the lessons drawn from the Warriors’ early exit to revisit its youth policy.
Captain Knowledge Musona arrived in Egypt as the Warriors leading scorer. However, he had huge questions on his fitness after a forgettable season in Belgium. When his form terribly gave in, Zimbabwe didn’t seem to have a plan B for a source of goals.
In the end, Khama Billiat’s equalizer in the 1-1 draw against the Uganda Cranes was all the Warriors could muster.
DRC reminded the Warriors of the need of a vast pool of reliable players. Besides Yannick Bolaise and Cedric Bakambu, they also had Jonathan Bolingi, Yousuf Mulumbu and Jacques Maghoma raising their hands up when it mattered most.
A vastly improved Uganda also had more than just one big goalkeeper and skipper Denis Onyango to bank on. Their on-field players came to the party.
