The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
ON the four previous occasions that Zimbabwe have taken part in the African Nations Championships, they have only progressed from the group stage once.
The Warriors, then under the guidance of Ian Gorowa reached the semifinals of the 2014 edition of the Chan tournament before they were beaten 5-4 on penalties by Libya. Zimbabwe went on to lose 1-0 to Nigeria in the third-place playoff.
Heading into this year’s edition, not much was however, expected from Zdravko Logarusic’s men since their preparations were not the best. Most of the players in the squad of 23 that went to Cameroon were inactive for the better part of 2020 since no domestic football took place from March. It came as no surprise when Zimbabwe became the first country to be eliminated from Chan. The Warriors lost 1-0 against Cameroon and went down 3-1 to Burkina Faso.
Zimbabwe face off with Mali in their last group match this evening before they head home. The Warriors are bottom of the log with zero points and head into the battle against the Eagles looking to finish the tournament on a dignified note.
Mali are second on the log and will certainly not make it easy for Zimbabwe since they have a chance of making it to the quarterfinals. Chances are high that the Warriors will finish bottom of the log even if they are to overcome Mali because they have to win by a huge margin, something highly unlikely for a team that has only scored one goal and conceded four. — @Mdawini_29
