BY HENRY MHARA
WARRIORS captain Knowledge Musona says preparations for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals should start now as the team targets going beyond the group stages.
Zimbabwe booked their place at the finals set for Cameroon in January next year after a 1-0 win over Botswana last Thursday night.
That victory ensured the team’s third straight qualification to the finals after their appearance at the 2017 and 2019 continental football jamboree.
On both occasions, the Warriors failed to go beyond the group stages. Musona blamed the team’s failure on poor preparations.
Disputes over appearance fees and winning bonuses also marred their last tournament.
Musona called on Zifa and the government to avoid past mistakes by starting to mobilise resources for next year’s tournament.
“There is always room for improvement in everything that we do in terms of preparations and travelling to tournaments,” he said.
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“We don’t really get a lot of time to be together as players,so the best way will be to utilise the short time that we have on international breaks. We will have to play friendly matches to prepare. In all the (Afcon) tournaments that we went to, we never had a lot of friendly matches to prepare.”
The team is likely to get the best possible preparations in terms of playing time ahead of the finals as they will compete in the World Cup qualifiers, with the campaign congested to fit in the next 10 months.
“We need to play matches and find combinations and give the coach a chance to know all the options available to him, ” he said.
“This is one area we need to improve as a country. We need to be united, and everyone needs to come on board because it’s very important.
“It’s not about Zifa alone but for the government and all the other stakeholders to help the team have the best possible preparations like what other countries are doing.”
With the tournament over 10 months away, Musona feels there is enough time for the country to mobilise resources.
“As players we have done our part qualifying and it’s now up to Zifa and the government to give us good preparations and ready us for the tournament. There is still a lot of time to prepare.”
Zimbabwe have been at the Afcon four times before, and in all those instances, they crashed out at the first hurdle.
Musona, who equalled Peter Ndlovu’s record of leading the team to two Afcon finals, is targeting to improve the team’s record.
He believes the current squad has the qualities to do that.
“We have a good squad and it’s no coincidence that we are going to the finals for the third time in a row. Sometimes we don’t get good preparations for matches, but we still get good results because we are fighters, hustlers and we are Warriors. We are always ready to fight for our country despite all the challenges,” Musona said.
“It’s high time that we go beyond the group stages. With this current squad we have undoubted talents and qualities to go through. But sometimes things distract our camp in terms of bonuses. We normally have disputes over money and that is not good for players mentally.
“Our job is to play football. We just want to come here, prepare and play games without money disputes. We need to keep our minds off things that happen outside the pitch so that we can give our best. That is the next important stage after this qualification.
“Like I said we need proper preparations.
“We want everything to be in order before we leave for the tournament. If we play with a free mind and with focus, I have no doubt we are one of the best teams in Africa. We are good enough to pass the group stage.”
He said he was flattered to be talked about in the same bracket as Ndlovu, widely regarded as the Warriors’ all-time great.
If Musona can lead the team past the group stage, then he will be the first captain to do so and probably be regarded as Zimbabwe’s greatest.
“It’s an honour to be the captain of this amazing group of players, who have a very big potential. The records will always be there, but for me it’s all about representing the nation with pride. It’s the fans that talk about statistics, but for me and my teammates what is important is to win matches and qualify for big tournaments,” he said.
“I’m happy that the team has qualified twice while I’m the captain and three times in a row. Peter achieved a lot of things with the team as a captain and I’m flattered that people are putting me in the same bracket with him. Hopefully when I leave there will be another captain, who will do the same or surpass that because it’s good for the nation. I’m humbled.”
