Story by Lawrence Trusida
ZIMBABWE secured bronze at the Unity Cup after edging India one-nil in the third-place playoff at The Valley Stadium in London this Saturday.
The Warriors bounced back from their semi-final disappointment against Nigeria to finish the Unity Cup on a high with a hard-fought victory over India.
Interim coach Kaitano Tembo shuffled his pack for the playoff encounter, handing starts to Marley Tavaziva, Emmanuel Jalai, Abubakar Moffat, Mongameli Tshuma, Prince Dube and Gerald Takwara, who captained the side.
Zimbabwe’s decisive moment came in the 32nd minute when Marshall Munetsi was brought down inside the penalty area.
The Warriors were using the Unity Cup to prepare for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
“Victory is always sweet, but we should not get carried away, so our objective was to prepare for the qualifiers, and give game time to as many players as possible so that we have a bigger pool to choose from when the qualifiers start,” Tembo said.
The Warriors face the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which kick off in September.
