Story by Mthokozisi Dube
THE Zimbabwe senior men’s football team, the Warriors, are hoping to carry their second-half fine performance to their next assignment after a frustrating two-all share of spoils with Benin in South Africa this Thursday.
The odds were against the Warriors heading into the block buster encounter against Benin, as they were facing a side oozing with confidence in the World Cup qualifiers.
It was no fluke that Benin meant business as they managed to secure two early goals which unsettled the Warriors.
The Warriors managed to redeem themselves in the second half, but overturning the first-half deficit remained a pipe dream as they settled for a share of spoils.
Returning former skipper Knowledge Musona justified his inclusion as he was on target to ensure the Warriors secured a point.
Despite dropping two vital points to bring back their World Cup qualification hopes, Warriors head coach Michael Nees is refusing to throw in the towel, rallying his charges for the next match away to Nigeria on Tuesday.
“We had a lot of thoughts and emotions on today’s game. I really would want to thank our fans for the carnival atmosphere, very good crowd. We could not have come back if we had no crowd. We really appreciate. Of course we wanted a better result but the opponent was strong. We did not start well but we had a better second half. We wanted to win, we tried everything and hopefully we will build on this in our next game,” Nees said.
The Warriors are still winless in the World Cup campaign having snatched stalemates with Rwanda, Nigeria and Benin.
Meanwhile, the Warriors shift focus to their next assignment away to Nigeria in Uyo.
The team left for Nigeria via the OR Tambo International Airport and will have an overnight stopover in Lagos before proceeding to Uyo State on Saturday.
