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Tedious Manyepo, Harare Bureau
FORMER Warriors midfielder Lazarus “Mali” Muhoni has tipped Zimbabwe to progress beyond the group stages at the Nations Cup in Gabon next month.

The Warriors are rank outsiders in Group B which has continental heavyweights Senegal, Tunisia and Algeria.

But Muhoni, who was an integral part of the first group of the Warriors team to grace the tournament in Tunisia in 2004, believes Zimbabwe have what it takes to outwit their fancied opponents in their group and progress to the quarter-finals.

“Firstly, I would like to congratulate the Warriors and their coach Callisto Pasuwa for making it to Gabon.

“Being the only team to make it from the (Southern African) region means there is something special about Zimbabwe,” said Muhoni.

“But here comes the perceived problem, being thrown in “The Group of Death’ along with the likes of Senegal, Algeria and Tunisia.

“What I would like to say is that there is nothing special about playing against these fancied opponents.

“With the quality of players who we have in our team, I believe we can match these teams and with self-belief, we can actually progress from this group unscathed.

“That Zimbabwe has been to the African Cup of Nations twice before means we are good enough to be counted among the best on the continent.

“I would like to believe that our previous appearances at the tournament laid some firm foundations for the current team.

“We cannot always go   kind of tournaments to learn but to win as well and I believe with the level of arsenal we have in our ranks, we can make a loud statement in Gabon.”

Zimbabwe get off their Afcon campaign on January 15 against Africa’s second-best ranked team Algeria who boast some internationally-acclaimed stars such as Rihad Mahrez who plays for English Premiership reigning champions Leicester City.

They will play Senegal three days later before concluding their group stage business against Tunisia.

And it is their first game against Algeria which Muhoni reckons should be won at all costs if the team will progress into the quarter-finals.

“It is very simple, we have to win our first match and that way we will stand a very good chance of progressing to the next stage.

“Algeria are a good team with well-known stars but Zimbabwe also boast of some polished players in the mould of Khama (Billiat), Hardlife (Zvirekwi) and Costa (Nhamoinesu),” he said.

Zimbabwe have never progressed beyond the group stages in their previous appearances at the Afcon tournament.

In 2004, Zimbabwe crashed out at the group stage in a pool which featured winners Cameroon, Algeria and Egypt.

They finished in third place in 2006 in a group which was anchored by Ghana with Senegal and Nigeria progressing to the last eight.