Opinion / Columnist
Zimbabwe Warriors can make it
29 Sep 2011 at 08:04hrs | Views
WHEN the draw for the 2012 African Cup of Nations Group A qualification campaign was done, most football technocrats were very comfortable with the outcome.
Group A is composed of top seeds Mali, Liberia, Cape Verde and Zimbabwe.
I remember sharing the views with coaches instructor Gibson Homela, that the football gods had smiled positively on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe stood a better chance than all the other teams in the same group for outright qualification. We saw ourselves already being part of the Gabon-Equatorial Guinea 2012 Nations Cup showcase.
This was based on the following qualification possibilities:
Probability of Facts:
Mali were going to be our biggest threat since they have been in these campaigns many times. They generally have good quality players and some of them ply their trade in top European clubs.
So what Zimbabwe needed to do was to beat Mali in Zimbabwe and try to then grind out a draw result in Bamako, Mali. Therefore what was needed was an outright win at home and at least a draw away in Mali.
Liberia were and are still ranked lower than us on the Fifa rankings. We were still in the, and coming out of the euphoria of the Asiagate scandal.
Yes, but with all that Zimbabwe were still ranked higher than Liberia. By then Liberia had not assembled a national team.
Their government sponsored the rebuilding of the national team and from gathered information, pledged or gave the Liberian Football Association US$200 000 for that exercise.
By then they did not have a technical team and let alone players. So all we needed was to beat them in Monrovia, Liberia and finish them here in Zimbabwe.
Liberia were supposed to be keeping our six points and were "waiting for us to come and get them when we wanted them''.
Cape Verde is a small island but with a lot of French influence. Small boys should always be thrashed when they venture into the big boys' arena.
But also it must be noted that as Zifa technocrats we are very much aware of the positive strides that their association has done in terms of development and improvement of their game.
So we should have beaten Cape Verde soundly, hands down, when they came to Zimbabwe on the 10th October, 2010.
Then we would be travelling to the island without the "hit/smash and grab maximum" pressure that we now find ourselves in.
Hard facts
Zimbabwe are playing their last match in the Group on October 8 in Cape Verde.
It is a MUST WIN SITUATION
If we win we will be sitting on 11 points.
If Mali win against Liberia in Monrovia they will be on 12 points. If Cape Verde beat Zimbabwe, they will be on 10 points. If Liberia beat Mali, they will be on 7 points.
This means that now we must win at all costs against Cape Verde so as to sit on 11 points. We also need to score many goals for our second option should Mali win against Liberia.
Our second option would be involving all the groups as the format looks for the best second positioned team in all the groups.
In this option we have challenges, depending on these last matches, from teams like Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Cameroon etc. conclusively, winning in Cape Verde is not an option but a must.
If our boys want to go to Heaven, then they have to die first and that is the sacrifice that must be undertaken.
Liberia is now positively looking for the 2014 World Cup qualification and 2013 Nations Cup. They would want to improve their Fifa rankings as confirmed by their coach, Roberto Landi and Liberia Football Association executive committee member Rochell G Woodson on their visit to Harare.
Their Fifa rankings and 2014 World Cup qualification teams' confidence can only go up when they beat big boys like Mali. Liberia have everything to play positively for in the match.
If Liberia beat or draw with Mali it means the Eagles will get 10 points
If Zimbabwe beat or draw with Cape Verde it means for a draw Zimbabwe will have 9 points, and for a win Zimbabwe will have 11 points.
So should Liberia and Mali draw then it means Mali will be on 10 points, and a Cape Verde/Zimbabwe will leave the Warriors with nine points.
But if Zimbabwe draw and Mali are beaten then both are on nine points.
Therefore in this scenario Zimbabwe's draw should be a 0-0 situation and hopefully Mali concede more goals.
Statistics will indicate that in both away matches played to date, Zimbabwe conceded a goal in each game and only scored one goal.
Zimbabwe have the best defence so far having conceded the least number of goals - three.
After the Liberia game in Harare, Zimbabwe are the second highest scoring team with six goals with Mali on seven.
This means that all those permutations and others not mentioned here, must be taken into consideration as Zimbabwe make plans for a possible third appearance at the Nations Cup.
From the above analysis, QUALIFICATION IS A HIGH POSSIBILITY, with GOD willing. Let us pray to the Lord.
Now that we have looked at the intricate nature of our third appearance or qualification of Afcon, we should also look positively at the 2013 edition and the World Cup in 2014.
Our Junior Teams, Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 must be given competitions regularly so as to feed the Warriors with the correct quality of material for the senior matches.
The current Warriors squad will definitely, with correct proper handling, take us to the next level with the ultimate being the World Cup. Yes they can!
As the Zifa board is cleaning all the mess and re-branding the association, it is equally important that sponsors take the initiative to come on board.
At times if one waits to be invited for a BIG PARTY and OPPORTUNIITES, and yet one can take their own opportunity and walk in freely before there is congestion, the one who has taken the initiative tends to get the best advantageous "seat" or position.
The Warriors in particular and all other national teams need sponsorship.
When Liberia came to Zimbabwe, a mobile telecoms service provider signed contracts for US$5 000 with each player as winning match fees.
Our future lies with proper development, which should be well nourished by the sponsors.
Honestly, in my view, we should have won our first game against Liberia and beat Cape Verde at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on that disastrous 10 October, 2010.
We should have ground a draw in Mali. Cape Verde are using players based mostly in France or "overseas".
Almost 90 percent of the team is composed of the foreign based players but equally it is true of the composition of our current Warriors Team.
But all having been said, the reality is where we are now. Let us move forward and fashion our own best results.
WE CAN DO IT if we put all our resources as a nation together.
With proper PLANNING we will be there.
------------------
Benedict Moyo is a Zifa board member for competitions.
Group A is composed of top seeds Mali, Liberia, Cape Verde and Zimbabwe.
I remember sharing the views with coaches instructor Gibson Homela, that the football gods had smiled positively on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe stood a better chance than all the other teams in the same group for outright qualification. We saw ourselves already being part of the Gabon-Equatorial Guinea 2012 Nations Cup showcase.
This was based on the following qualification possibilities:
Probability of Facts:
Mali were going to be our biggest threat since they have been in these campaigns many times. They generally have good quality players and some of them ply their trade in top European clubs.
So what Zimbabwe needed to do was to beat Mali in Zimbabwe and try to then grind out a draw result in Bamako, Mali. Therefore what was needed was an outright win at home and at least a draw away in Mali.
Liberia were and are still ranked lower than us on the Fifa rankings. We were still in the, and coming out of the euphoria of the Asiagate scandal.
Yes, but with all that Zimbabwe were still ranked higher than Liberia. By then Liberia had not assembled a national team.
Their government sponsored the rebuilding of the national team and from gathered information, pledged or gave the Liberian Football Association US$200 000 for that exercise.
By then they did not have a technical team and let alone players. So all we needed was to beat them in Monrovia, Liberia and finish them here in Zimbabwe.
Liberia were supposed to be keeping our six points and were "waiting for us to come and get them when we wanted them''.
Cape Verde is a small island but with a lot of French influence. Small boys should always be thrashed when they venture into the big boys' arena.
But also it must be noted that as Zifa technocrats we are very much aware of the positive strides that their association has done in terms of development and improvement of their game.
So we should have beaten Cape Verde soundly, hands down, when they came to Zimbabwe on the 10th October, 2010.
Then we would be travelling to the island without the "hit/smash and grab maximum" pressure that we now find ourselves in.
Hard facts
Zimbabwe are playing their last match in the Group on October 8 in Cape Verde.
It is a MUST WIN SITUATION
If we win we will be sitting on 11 points.
If Mali win against Liberia in Monrovia they will be on 12 points. If Cape Verde beat Zimbabwe, they will be on 10 points. If Liberia beat Mali, they will be on 7 points.
This means that now we must win at all costs against Cape Verde so as to sit on 11 points. We also need to score many goals for our second option should Mali win against Liberia.
Our second option would be involving all the groups as the format looks for the best second positioned team in all the groups.
In this option we have challenges, depending on these last matches, from teams like Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Cameroon etc. conclusively, winning in Cape Verde is not an option but a must.
If our boys want to go to Heaven, then they have to die first and that is the sacrifice that must be undertaken.
Liberia is now positively looking for the 2014 World Cup qualification and 2013 Nations Cup. They would want to improve their Fifa rankings as confirmed by their coach, Roberto Landi and Liberia Football Association executive committee member Rochell G Woodson on their visit to Harare.
If Liberia beat or draw with Mali it means the Eagles will get 10 points
If Zimbabwe beat or draw with Cape Verde it means for a draw Zimbabwe will have 9 points, and for a win Zimbabwe will have 11 points.
So should Liberia and Mali draw then it means Mali will be on 10 points, and a Cape Verde/Zimbabwe will leave the Warriors with nine points.
But if Zimbabwe draw and Mali are beaten then both are on nine points.
Therefore in this scenario Zimbabwe's draw should be a 0-0 situation and hopefully Mali concede more goals.
Statistics will indicate that in both away matches played to date, Zimbabwe conceded a goal in each game and only scored one goal.
Zimbabwe have the best defence so far having conceded the least number of goals - three.
After the Liberia game in Harare, Zimbabwe are the second highest scoring team with six goals with Mali on seven.
This means that all those permutations and others not mentioned here, must be taken into consideration as Zimbabwe make plans for a possible third appearance at the Nations Cup.
From the above analysis, QUALIFICATION IS A HIGH POSSIBILITY, with GOD willing. Let us pray to the Lord.
Now that we have looked at the intricate nature of our third appearance or qualification of Afcon, we should also look positively at the 2013 edition and the World Cup in 2014.
Our Junior Teams, Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 must be given competitions regularly so as to feed the Warriors with the correct quality of material for the senior matches.
The current Warriors squad will definitely, with correct proper handling, take us to the next level with the ultimate being the World Cup. Yes they can!
As the Zifa board is cleaning all the mess and re-branding the association, it is equally important that sponsors take the initiative to come on board.
At times if one waits to be invited for a BIG PARTY and OPPORTUNIITES, and yet one can take their own opportunity and walk in freely before there is congestion, the one who has taken the initiative tends to get the best advantageous "seat" or position.
The Warriors in particular and all other national teams need sponsorship.
When Liberia came to Zimbabwe, a mobile telecoms service provider signed contracts for US$5 000 with each player as winning match fees.
Our future lies with proper development, which should be well nourished by the sponsors.
Honestly, in my view, we should have won our first game against Liberia and beat Cape Verde at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on that disastrous 10 October, 2010.
We should have ground a draw in Mali. Cape Verde are using players based mostly in France or "overseas".
Almost 90 percent of the team is composed of the foreign based players but equally it is true of the composition of our current Warriors Team.
But all having been said, the reality is where we are now. Let us move forward and fashion our own best results.
WE CAN DO IT if we put all our resources as a nation together.
With proper PLANNING we will be there.
------------------
Benedict Moyo is a Zifa board member for competitions.
Source - TH
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