Warriors beat Gabon

Sport
DONALD Ngoma and Milton Ncube gave the Warriors the perfect tonic for the African Nations Championships (Chan) finals onslaught with two goals against Gabon

Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Gabon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

SPORTS EDITOR

DONALD Ngoma and Milton Ncube gave the Warriors the perfect tonic for the African Nations Championships (Chan) finals onslaught with two goals on either side as Zimbabwe beat Gabon at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, yesterday.

FC Platinum striker Ngoma headed home on the stroke of half-time before Ncube added the second five minutes from the end.

Coach Ian Gorowa started off with George Chigova in goal while Partson Jaure, Eric Chipeta, Hardlife Zvirekwi and Ncube took the back four.

Danny Phiri anchored, Pascal Manhanga, Kuda Mahachi and Ali Sadiki formed the midfield triangle with Ngoma and Simba Sithole of Dynamos upfront.

Speaking from Johannesburg last night, team manager Sharif Mussa said he was impressed with the performance of the team.

“It was a good game; we could have had more goals. In light of the preparations we had, the combinations that we were trying out, I am sure we achieved some of our goals in the match.

“Mentally, the boys are fine and I am sure they will leave an impression in the finals. We will play Ajax Cape Town on Thursday (tomorrow),” Mussa said.

The match against Ajax Cape Town will take place at Ikamva at 6:30pm as they wind up their preparations. Gorowa is a former assistant coach at Ajax. They played FC Zwolle last night at the Coetzenburg Stadium as part of preparations for the second half of the Absa PSL.

The Warriors will begin their campaign on Sunday against Morocco at the Athlone Stadium before taking on Uganda on January 16. The last group match will be against Burkina Faso on January 20.

Meanwhile, Uganda skipper Dennis Iguma has said they would be going all out for the 2014 Chan to prove their critics wrong.

The SC Victoria University defender/midfielder, who recovered in time to join the team last month, told MTNFootball.com that although some people think the team is not good enough, he thinks they are determined as a group and know what to expect.

“I believe the squad is good enough to compete and even go up to quarter or semi-finals if we believe in ourselves,” the skipper said.

He added that the coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic has worked hard to get the spirit in the camp high. “The bondage, love, togetherness and the philosophy of winning is in the team,” he said.

“Football is dynamic and once we work together as a team we shall win games and surprise many.”

The African Nations Championship is a relatively new event staged by the Confederation of African football, having first been played in 2009.

The creation of the event was a response to the desire to strengthen national competitions regularly weakened by exodus of top players who leave their home countries to play for foreign teams which pay them more and get them more media coverage.

It features only players who ply their trade in domestic leagues and features from all the six Caf zones on the continent.

With regional qualifying in the zones — North Zone, West A, Zone West B, Central Zone, Central-East Zone and Southern Zone — it ensures that all of Africa is represented.

The first final was staged in Ivory Coast in 2009 and won by DR Congo, who defeated Ghana.

The second tournament was played in Sudan in 2011, with Tunisia beating Angola in the deciding match.

South Africa will stage the third event after original hosts Libya pulled out due to the civil unrest that has plagued in that country in the last few years.

The 16 teams are split into four groups of four sides each, with the top two nations advancing to the quarter-finals.

Warriors X1 George Chigova, Partson Jaure, Eric Chipeta, Hardlife Zvirekwi, Milton Ncube, Danny Phiri, Kuda Mahachi, Pascal Manhanga, Ali Sadiki, Donald Ngoma, Simba Sithole