Warriors plunge into battle.
The Zimbabwe national soccer team the warriors today plunge into battle at the Cosafa castle cup where they will today clash against Zambia in what promises to be a pulsating encounter at the Moses Mabhida stadium at 19:30 Zimbabwean time. Zimbabwe enter today’s encounter on the back of an impressive 2 nil victory over the Comoros in a game where goals by Evans Rusike and Khama Billiat were enough to steer the Warriors into the last four.
Zambia on the other hand progressed into Wednesday’s semi-final tie after grinding out a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Malawi at the weekend. Zambia’s win saw Chipolopolo set up a battle against what has been their chief nemesis in recent Cosafa tournaments where they have lost out to Zimbabwe in finals played in 2017 and 2018.
The warriors on Wednesday welcome the return of Kudakwashe Mahachi who was absent from camp as he had to attend to his wedding ceremony at the weekend. Mahachi’s friends Teenage Hadebe and Marvelous Nakamba were also excused and allowed to attend to Mahachi’s wedding but the trio is back in camp and eager to play a part in Zimbabwe’s clash against Zambia. Progressing to the final and winning the tournament would be the
3rd consecutive time for Zimbabwe thus making Wednesday encounter important for Zimbabwe.
Sunday Chidzambwa is using the Cosafa tournament as a platform to fine tune preparations for the Warriors Afcon campaign where they face hosts Egypt in their opening encounter before playing Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo in their group matches. Zimbabwe met the DRC in the qualifying road to Afcon, overcoming the central affrican nation in their own backyard before sharing the spoils in the reverse fixture.
Afcon will see Zimbabwe again facing the DRC in a game where Zimbabwe is expected to have a psychological edge given their recent encounters. Egypt however stands out as Zimbabwe’s most daunting challenge with the warriors having bad memories if encounters played against the hosts. Uganda are on paper the weakest link in the group but the East africans can stir some surprises if underestimated by opponents.
