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Eddie Chikamhi Harare Bureau
THE Zimbabwe Under-23 soccer team manager Sharif Mussa reckons their mission in the CAF Under-23 Championship and Olympic qualifiers will not be easy but he is convinced they can still make it. The Young Warriors failed to find their rhythm and were left with a mountain to climb following the 1-1 draw against South Africa at Rufaro.

Mussa said they will look to make amends in the second leg set for next week in South Africa.

Zimbabwe now need to avoid defeat at all costs to keep their chances bright.

The Young Warriors are looking to get, at least, a scoring draw of 2-2 or better or a straight win to progress to the finals of the CAF Under-23 Championship set for Senegal at the end of the year.

The top three teams at the finals automatically qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Brazil.

“It’s not going to be easy because South Africa also want to qualify and they’ll obviously be hostile,” said Mussa.

“But we’ve to be composed and to be focused on the job at hand. We’re telling the boys that you’ve come a long way and this is your last chance to qualify so we’ve to fight for our lives.

“It’s still anybody’s game. If they can come here and get a draw it means we can also go there and do even better. We just need to be tactically, mentally and physically disciplined,” said Mussa.

But this was a match Zimbabwe could have lost as they played second fiddle to their neighbours.

South Africa dominated the exchanges and looked more likely to score than the hosts and Keagan Dolly gave them a deserved lead midway through the second half.

FC Platinum forward Walter Musona provided the relief when he chipped in with a crucial penalty conversion with seven minutes remaining in regulation time.

Mussa said Zimbabwe would need to invest much into their preparations for the return leg.

The Young Warriors have often had shoddy preparations ahead of crucial matches mainly because of financial setbacks and difficulties with securing all the players from their clubs.

If it was not for the league games coming up this weekend, Mussa said they would have wanted to keep the players in camp to prepare thoroughly for the return trip.

“The ideal is always the best but you can’t always have it. The ideal is that we shouldn’t have broken camp and continue training until we depart for the return match but because of league games this weekend it’s not possible.

“Remember some of these boys are key members of the teams they play for. So we’re grounded and we can only pray that none of them will get injured during the league games.

“We’re appealing to everyone to play their part. The team needs support from all Zimbabweans, Zifa and the corporate world. Resources should be availed,” said Mussa.

Striker Thomas Chideu, who was stretchered out injured in the first leg, was reported to be recovering well and should be available for the next camp.

“He was elbowed on the side of the chest. It caused a lot of pain on him and he had to be taken out to receive medical attention but afterwards he was okay. It’s nothing serious,” said Mussa.

While Zimbabwe are looking to save their campaign, South Africa Under-23 assistant coach Shaun Bartlett warned they should not expect an easy match.

The former South Africa international said the away goal they scored will count much and are already looking forward to the return leg.

“I think we would need to start the game a little more quicker. We need to get an early goal and playing at home will also help us.

“The goal that we got here was very important. When we go back, we need to look and see the mistakes we made in this game and we make sure that we don’t repeat them,” said Bartlett.