EDITORIAL COMMENT: Warriors must start preparing for Afcon finals now

THE Warriors have done the nation proud by qualifying for our third Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals following yesterday’s 3-0 thumping of a battling Malawi in Harare. But as the dust settles on the trailblazing qualification campaign, the agenda must now turn from celebrations to preparations because qualification alone is not enough.

The boys played very well, particularly in their last two home matches against Swaziland and Malawi, scoring a whopping seven goals and conceding none, but the question is, just how good are we and how will the Warriors fare in Gabon come January?

We witnessed the trickery of star man Khama Billiat, pace of Knowledge Musona, dribbling wizardry of Kudakwashe Mahachi, strength of Tendai Ndoro, combativeness of skipper Willard Katsande in midfield and the steadiness and realiability of centre-back Costa Nhamoinesu in yesterday’s game which kept the 40,000 plus fans entertained and renewed a spirit of belief in this team.

The Warriors showed signs of a team that had entered a new era, playing with pace and intensity, taking risks, showing resilience and justly claiming their reward at the end of 90 minutes.

Our young, vibrant squad evoked memories of the late Reinhard Fabisch’s Dream Team and probably left football loving Zimbabweans thinking that maybe we have a chance of doing the unthinkable at Afcon 2017.

While there’s no doubt the Warriors’ qualification is a huge morale boost and that the team has improved since that 1-1 stalemate against initial Group L favourites Guinea in their opening 2017 Afcon qualifier on September 6, 2015, in Harare, we must understand that we are not yet among Africa’s elite footballing countries.

We still don’t know what we are capable of until we play our first game at the finals in Gabon in seven months’ time. Yes we could surprise many in Gabon by going further than anyone expects, but we ought to prepare for such surprises now if we want to dream again.

We have quality players capable of making an impact at Afcon, but that is all dependent on preparations, and preparation has been the toughest opponent our national teams have faced. The Warriors are likely to encounter this opponent repeatedly before they leave for Gabon unless things change at Zifa House or the new National Football Association of Zimbabwe, whichever is running football in the country presently.

Our gallant Mighty Warriors are two months away from making an historic appearance at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, but their preparations for the global sporting showcase have been nothing but shambolic. No training camp, no friendlies lined up and worse still the final squad hasn’t even been announced. The girls are not playing any competitive football and yet they are expected to come up against giants Germany in Rio.

A reasonable amount of friendlies must be lined up for the Warriors, not just for the sake of it, but against strong opponents that will give the team a better workout to help sharpen tactics and formations ahead of the Afcon finals.

The Mighty Warriors have already been treated with disdain and we hope the Warriors’ qualification will move our football authorities to rectify the preparations illness for both teams otherwise they will both be back home in embarrassment before the knockout stage begins.

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