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Khama Billiat

Mugove Chigada in Libreville, Gabon
WARRIORS’ star Khama Billiat says they are disappointed to have let down the nation by crushing out of the 2017 Afcon finals in Gabon.

Zimbabwe were outclassed 2-4 by Tunisia in the last group B match to exit the tournament with just a point, leaving Senegal and Tunisia to progress to the quarter-finals.

That record becomes the worst by the Warriors when compared to the 2004 and 2006 editions when they ended the tournament with at least three points.

Billiat believes they could have done much better than they did.

“It is very disappointing and we need to be very honest with ourselves that we have let the nation down,” said Billiat.

“But it is part of football; you win some and lose some. We need to be honest with ourselves, go back and take the positives and stay focused at our clubs so that we can be called again.”

The Mamelodi Sundowns star said they made life difficult for themselves by allowing their opponents to score early goals.

“That has been the biggest problem for us throughout the tournament. We have been conceding goals in the first 15 minutes. We start to play our normal game after that, but playing to try and come back into the game is always very difficult. It requires double the effort. It is one of those things that contributed to us being knocked out of the tournament,” he said.

The talented player said just talking about this problem alone will not help the Warriors in future.

“Now we need to be focused in future because it takes a lot than just speaking about it. We need to improve individually,” he said.

Billiat was a marvel to watch in the first game and that probably gave Senegal and Tunisia an idea of how to restrict him.

“It’s part of the game. I would love to be on top of my game in every match, but these matches are always different. Every team come with their own way of approaching the game and you never know how they approach it.

“I believe that if we had won that game against Algeria, we could have given ourselves confidence and today we could have been talking a different story. But it is all in the past now and we have to go back and plan for the future. If I was to play the tournament all over again, I would like us to win the first game and we would not have been worried about going into this game we have just lost,” Billiat said.

The Warriors’ star believes they will qualify for the next Afcon edition.

“We need to return to the Afcon finals and we need to come back stronger,” he said.