IT is good to get excited after the Warriors’ 3-0 spanking of the Lone Star of Liberia, but the truth is that the Warriors were not as good as we would want ourselves to believe they were.
insidesport with MICHAEL KARIATI
Although the Warriors won — and by three goals for that matter — it is nothing to gloat over for the players, the coach and the supporters because failure in such a simple mission would have led to calls for the disbanding of the whole Warriors team.
The truth is that Liberia never offered any resistance and were probably the weakest team of the weekend’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and any other team in Africa like Chad and Seychelles — could have beaten them on that day.
When they left the National Sports Stadium after the game, some of the Zimbabwean football fans could be heard asking whether what was on parade was the Liberian national team or one of the small club sides from the West African country.
The Lone Star could not control the ball or even string one or two passes together and the Zimbabwean goalkeeper, George Chigova, spent the whole afternoon not watching the game, but enjoying the song and dance that was coming from the stands as there was no threat to his goal area.
To be honest, even some of the top local teams could have equaled the 3-0 margin that the Warriors won by had they been asked to stand in for the Zimbabwe national team.
That the Warriors could beat such a weak team by only three goals and for that matter with all the goals coming from one player — skipper Knowledge Musona —should be a cause for concern. How can Zimbabwe’s most trusted strikers fail to find the net against, of all teams, Liberia?
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Tendai Ndoro in particular was not in the game. He could not do the simplest of things of holding the ball and pass it and above all, failed to pick his target as he always does at club level.
Even those who heavily criticised Kalisto Pasuwa for not giving Ndoro a first team start at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Gabon, now have second thoughts and believe Marabhundu was spot-on in his decision to overlook the player. In fact, coach Norman Mapeza, could have saved the Orlando Pirates striker from the crowd’s boos with an early substitution.
Kuda Mahachi, the other of the Warriors striking options was also a disappointment. The young striker forgot that games are won by scoring goals and wanted to impress the crowd with his dribbling skills. He wanted to do the impossible of going past two or three opponents when it was easier to pass the ball to the closest team mate. In the end, he lost possession unnecessarily.
The question is: what would have happened had Musona not been there as was the case with Khama Billiat who was out injured? Were the Warriors going to score at all ?
What, however, is clearly evident is that the Warriors are fast becoming a two-men team, that of Knowledge Musona and Khama Billiat, and that is very unhealthy. Zimbabwe needs to build a team that can be trusted whether one or two players are not available.
A team like the one Zimbabwe had in the past when Adam Ndlovu, Agent Sawu, Vitalis Takawira, and Wilfred Mugeyi, could turn on the style, when Peter Ndlovu was not available.
Right now without Musona and Billiat, there are no Warriors to talk about.
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