Sports / Soccer
Swim or sink for Warriors
31 May 2014 at 01:57hrs | Views
WARRIORS coach Ian Gorowa says they will be going all out in search of goals when they host Tanzania in the decisive leg of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.
Zimbabwe lost the first leg 1-0 in Dar es Salaam two weeks ago and are under pressure to overturn the result.
The Warriors, admittedly, have a tall order as their opponents appear to have thoroughly prepared for this first round tie with a series of friendly matches.
The Taifa Stars, who arrived a day earlier than scheduled on Thursday with a delegation of 30 people, received a big morale booster yesterday following the release of their star players Thomas Ulimwengu and Mbwana Samata by their club TP Mazembe.
The duo is part of the DRC club that is playing in the group stages of the Champions League.
They joined the rest of the Taifa Stars squad in Harare yesterday morning and will immediately after the match proceed to Ndola, Zambia, where their club is camping in preparation of their next Champions League assignment against Egypt side Zamalek.
However, Gorowa said the Warriors have done their homework following the shock first leg defeat.
Zimbabwe have also beefed up their squad by calling in Libya-based forward Edward Sadomba, who is enjoying good form with Al Ahly Benghazi in the Champions League, and Belgium-based midfielder Ovidy Karuru.
The squad went back in camp on Monday and will round off their preparations today where the coach is expected to finalise his starting line-up.
Gorowa yesterday declared they were ready for the big game as he seeks to end his poor home record at the giant stadium.
The technical team dedicated most of their energy on improving the team's finishing as there were concerns about the team's conversion rate.
Gorowa said he was happy with the arrival of Sadomba to strengthen the strike force which already had Cuthbert Malajila, Tendai Ndoro and Kuda Musharu.
"We are ready. I think we have done our preparations so we should be ready by now. We only got one more training session tomorrow and then that's it.
"We have Edward Sadomba who has joined the camp which is good. At least the strikers are all here so I think we are ready," said Gorowa.
Zimbabwe fell to an early strike by John Bocco in the first leg and will be hoping to rise from the ashes with a flurry of goals to ensure passage to the second round.
The home team has not made it a secret that they will be more offensive from the first whistle as both teams will be looking for the early goal.
The team was in high spirits yesterday as they went through their paces at the National Sports Stadium.
"I think the spirits are high, the morale is also high in the camp. So, it's positive but I think we have to do the job on Sunday. The only thing is to score goals and, hopefully, we will do that.
"Pressure is always there whether we play in Tanzania where we lost 1-0, that was pressure as well. Again the same thing now but we just have to concentrate on our game and win.
"We want to score goals, it's very clear we want to score goals. Defence has always been our strength and we should be worried more going forward.
"Defence normally doesn't give us problems," said Gorowa.
Tanzania conducted their second training session yesterday afternoon and their coach Maart Nooj was not in the mood to engage with the local media.
Nooj has covered his plans in secrecy since his arrival in Zimbabwe.
The Taifa Stars beat Malawi on Tuesday with midfielder Amri Kiemba scoring the lone goal in the 36th minute.
The arrival of Samatta and Ulimwengu was a big relief to the Dutch coach who is aiming to break the team's 34-year jinx in the continental competition.
Tanzania need to strike early to pile pressure on the hosts who would then need to reply with not less than three goals under the away goals rule.
The East Africans last qualified for the finals of the tournament in 1980 but the side has seen substantial improvement in recent years and they have renewed hopes under the Dutch mentor.
Winners are almost certain to face Mozambique in the second round.
The Mozambicans had a flying start when they thrashed minnows South Sudan 5-0 in their first leg tie and will be looking to wrap up the contest this weekend.
Zimbabwe lost the first leg 1-0 in Dar es Salaam two weeks ago and are under pressure to overturn the result.
The Warriors, admittedly, have a tall order as their opponents appear to have thoroughly prepared for this first round tie with a series of friendly matches.
The Taifa Stars, who arrived a day earlier than scheduled on Thursday with a delegation of 30 people, received a big morale booster yesterday following the release of their star players Thomas Ulimwengu and Mbwana Samata by their club TP Mazembe.
The duo is part of the DRC club that is playing in the group stages of the Champions League.
They joined the rest of the Taifa Stars squad in Harare yesterday morning and will immediately after the match proceed to Ndola, Zambia, where their club is camping in preparation of their next Champions League assignment against Egypt side Zamalek.
However, Gorowa said the Warriors have done their homework following the shock first leg defeat.
Zimbabwe have also beefed up their squad by calling in Libya-based forward Edward Sadomba, who is enjoying good form with Al Ahly Benghazi in the Champions League, and Belgium-based midfielder Ovidy Karuru.
The squad went back in camp on Monday and will round off their preparations today where the coach is expected to finalise his starting line-up.
Gorowa yesterday declared they were ready for the big game as he seeks to end his poor home record at the giant stadium.
The technical team dedicated most of their energy on improving the team's finishing as there were concerns about the team's conversion rate.
Gorowa said he was happy with the arrival of Sadomba to strengthen the strike force which already had Cuthbert Malajila, Tendai Ndoro and Kuda Musharu.
"We are ready. I think we have done our preparations so we should be ready by now. We only got one more training session tomorrow and then that's it.
"We have Edward Sadomba who has joined the camp which is good. At least the strikers are all here so I think we are ready," said Gorowa.
Zimbabwe fell to an early strike by John Bocco in the first leg and will be hoping to rise from the ashes with a flurry of goals to ensure passage to the second round.
The home team has not made it a secret that they will be more offensive from the first whistle as both teams will be looking for the early goal.
The team was in high spirits yesterday as they went through their paces at the National Sports Stadium.
"I think the spirits are high, the morale is also high in the camp. So, it's positive but I think we have to do the job on Sunday. The only thing is to score goals and, hopefully, we will do that.
"Pressure is always there whether we play in Tanzania where we lost 1-0, that was pressure as well. Again the same thing now but we just have to concentrate on our game and win.
"We want to score goals, it's very clear we want to score goals. Defence has always been our strength and we should be worried more going forward.
"Defence normally doesn't give us problems," said Gorowa.
Tanzania conducted their second training session yesterday afternoon and their coach Maart Nooj was not in the mood to engage with the local media.
Nooj has covered his plans in secrecy since his arrival in Zimbabwe.
The Taifa Stars beat Malawi on Tuesday with midfielder Amri Kiemba scoring the lone goal in the 36th minute.
The arrival of Samatta and Ulimwengu was a big relief to the Dutch coach who is aiming to break the team's 34-year jinx in the continental competition.
Tanzania need to strike early to pile pressure on the hosts who would then need to reply with not less than three goals under the away goals rule.
The East Africans last qualified for the finals of the tournament in 1980 but the side has seen substantial improvement in recent years and they have renewed hopes under the Dutch mentor.
Winners are almost certain to face Mozambique in the second round.
The Mozambicans had a flying start when they thrashed minnows South Sudan 5-0 in their first leg tie and will be looking to wrap up the contest this weekend.
Source - chronicle
