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NOT since the days of the late Reinhard Fabisch’s Dream Team have the Warriors looked this good.

But can Khama Billiat, Knowledge Musona, Tendai Ndoro, Willard Katsande, Marvelous Nakamba and company go past the group stages or better still surprise us and go all the way?

Our only previous two African Cup of Nations’ appearances ended in the group stages in 2004 and 2006, but the present crop of Warriors have looked really good and have a very strong chance of springing a huge surprise.

The Warriors are considered underdogs in Group B with Algeria, Senegal and Tunisia. It’s an unkind draw, but we believe our boys aren’t in Gabon just to make up the numbers. They qualified by winning their qualifiers.

Now is the time to atone for the 2016 African Nations Championship (Chan) participation that came to a farcical end in the group stages following identical 0-1 losses to Mali and Zambia, and a 1-1 draw against Uganda.

Chan is for players based in their home countries’ domestic leagues, but this time coach Callisto Pasuwa has the best players at his disposal.

Barring one or two inclusions, Pasuwa largely picked the squad on merit and now has the unenviable task of picking the best starting 11, not only for their opening match against Algeria tomorrow evening, but for the other two games against Senegal and Tunisia.

Algeria boast the 2016 Caf African Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez and his English Premiership champions Leicester City teammate Islam Slimani. The pair was instrumental in Leicester’s title win, with Mahrez one of the stand-out players.

Senegal are the only side to qualify for this Afcon with a 100 percent record and have in their ranks the most expensive African football player Sadio Mane, whose move from Southampton to Liverpool cost $45 million.

We implore the Warriors not to allow big name players our opponents possess to distract them from making the nation proud. After all, our own Billiat was voted the second best African player based on the continent and is also among the top 20 players to watch at the tournament.

We accept that there will be a few nerves tomorrow evening, but the boys must have self- belief, because anything is possible with self- belief. We want the Warriors to know that no mountain is too high; if they have faith that can move mountains.

The grit and resilience they showed in the qualifiers has heightened the anticipation of the nation that our boys can cause some shockwaves in Gabon.

Just guard against nerves and lapses in concentration against the three traditional heavyweights of African football.

We acknowledge that the boys didn’t have the best of preparations, but now that Zifa has reportedly released the first tranche of $550 000 to the squad, which is $15 000 appearance fees each for the three group games, our boys must now approach every match with peace of mind.

We dare say after Zifa’s rare fulfillment of an undertaking, the boys now have no excuses following the “send-off” fracas they were at the centre of over money issues in Harare last week.

You are the only team from Southern Africa at this continental football showpiece and what better time to emulate our northern neighbours Zambia, who clinched the gong in 2012, and southern neighbours South Africa’s 1996 victory.

It’s off the coast of Gabon that 18 members of the Zambian national team perished in a plane crash off the coast of Libreville in the Atlantic Ocean in April 1993.

However, Chipolopolo were able to put together a team that reached the 1994 Afcon final where they lost 1-2 to Nigeria.

Although they lost the final, Zambia was easily the standout team in the 1994 tournament and was praised for its gallantry and determination in honouring the memory of their dead.

We hope our boys can draw inspiration from the Zambian story and make a name for themselves.

We have the firepower at the spearhead of  the team in the form of the silent assassin Musona and Ndoro. Billiat has often scored crucial goals from his midfield role, while Nyasha Mushekwi can also do the job on his day. If they create chances, they have the players to finish them off.

So be brave, be bold and be confident boys; make it happen. You have no pressure and nobody expects you to win the Afcon, so go out there and make us all proud. Go Warriors go!