Related Articles |
11 June 2008
By Emmanuel Magaisa (Sports Editor)
Zimbabwe’s win against Namibia catapulted them to the top of their Group 3 African Nations and World Cup qualifiers. The warriors are still basking in the glory of their hard work with a couple of impressive results in their two matches.
The question is, though, will they maintain the same streak of results or better that in the remaining fixtures. Zimbabwe certainly need to make a mark by flying the football flag on the world scene as much as we have registered our presence on the continent.
Our biggest challenge is certainly the ever important element of consistency, and we need it badly right across the board. Rufaro stadium has always been a successful hunting ground for any team using it as a home ground.
After about a year of inoperation, many had thought that it would cast a bad omen after reopening with a new artificial surface, thanks to the world governing body, the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) funding.
An estimated 30 000 capacity crowd thronged the stadium to back their gallant warriors. They were not disappointed as they celebrated a brilliant brace from Gilbert Mushangazhike on either side of half time.
Ironically he is the man who twice in the second half survived substitution, and he justified his stay with a punctuation marking the close of a perfect afternoon for the warriors.
The fans, though, must be asking themselves if this facelift at Rufaro is really worth it or yet another white elephant which will pose problems to their football enjoyment in the long run. This is an issue which I will thoroughly explore, but not just now, not in this article.
The match itself provided some drama from either side. Right sided flying winger David Kutyauripo, so full of energy and zest, added real spice in the game with some inspiring penetrating runs on his flank. Being a locally based player, his reading of the game and ability to capitalise on the opponents’ shortfalls brought some excitement for the capacity crowd.
His determination and darting runs must have left coach Valinhos thinking seriously about drafting a few more locally based players into his squad. It is unquestionably true that we are a talent abundant nation. He did not do this on his own as besides him was the stalwart Cephas Chimedza pulling the strings for Zimbabwe in the middle of the park. It was Chimedza, though, who was capped man of the match, and justifiably so.
It was fantastic to have veterans like big Harlington Shereni back in national colours as the fans will not quickly forget his left foot thunderbolt which burns like a veld fire. He has not lost his thunder-strike and he was at it with a couple of them. One was saved by Mbaha in goal for Namibia and the other one missed the target. He must have been struggling with an injury.
It was fireworks a lot of times with the likes of Zvenyika Makonese firing on all four cylinders. Skipper Benjani was not to be outdone as he blasted his free kick in the 5th minute against the wall. At one moment he surged forward with a sudden burst of power and pace which has become his trademark in the English premiership, he powered a shot which was deflected by the Namibian goalie and struck the the crossbar.
Namibia were also having a fair share of the exchanges they had an ace up their sleeves and presented the home side with something to worry about. In the 12th minute, they earned a corner which was met by Wilko Risse whose resultant shot zoomed over the crossbar. They still kept coming forward but the cool Zimbabwean defence handled their task with real impression.
However, there is still need for a real play-maker who will be able to supply clean in-perfect passes to the front runners as most of the time the y were chasing the long searching balls.
The efforts of the likes of Onesimo Bhasera is worth mentioning as well. He picked up Mushangazhike in the 85th minute with a precise cross which the later met with a stunning diving header which the Namibian keeper only watched nestling at the back of the net. Watch him getting a few more games and you will really appreciate him.
It cannot be denied that the pace of the ball was rather awkward for most of the players who struggled to keep up and were also having difficulties bringing the ball under control. Maybe with a little more experience on the surface, they will acclimatise.
The only ugly incident was the fans who reacted with anger when the authorities failed to open the gates on time. Apart from that, they actually got something to spend the afternoon on .
Join the debate on this article in our forums today and share your views.
Nehanda Radio: Zimbabwe's first 24 hour internet radio news channel.
Who is Who in Zimbabwe featured profiles
Makosi Musambasi -UK Big Brother
Oliver Mtukudzi- Singer
Gabriel Shumba- Human rights lawyer
Lance Guma- Broadcast Journalist