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Zimbabwe: Young Warriors One Win Away

todayOctober 2, 2024 3

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Zimbabwe’s Young Warriors need to maintain their momentum when they face hosts Mozambique in their last Group A match of the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 AFCON – COSAFA Qualifier to ensure they advance to the semi-finals this afternoon.

Kickoff is 3pm.

The Zimbabweans go into the game with their spirits high after taking control of the group with a 3-0 thrashing of Eswatini on Saturday.

Only, the top team will earn direct qualification to the last four, while there is a window of opportunity for the best-placed runners-up from the three groups.

The Young Warriors edged neighbours Botswana to the top of the table despite both teams having amassed four points apiece, ahead of the final round-robin matches.

Group A was narrowed to a three-horse race after Botswana handed Mozambique their second defeat with a 2-1 result that effectively eliminated the hosts from title contention.

Eswatini, who have garnered three points from two games, still cherish their chances as well. But with Botswana and Eswatini set to cancel out each other in another high-stakes encounter today, Zimbabwe, will still need to get their game plan right to sail through to the last four directly.

Coach Simon Marange said they will not leave anything to chance after seeing his team score three past Eswatini without a response on Saturday.

They had drawn 1-1 with Botswana in the opening match of the tourney, conceding a late equaliser.

But the Young Warriors were on a higher plane on Saturday with Tanaka Cherera giving them a 1-0 lead after 26 minutes when he beat the Eswatini goalkeeper Andile Awu with a long-range shot.

They made a perfect start to the second half when Nisbet Muzenda converted from the penalty spot to increase the score to 2-0.

Prince Ndlovu added a third after 85 minutes when he met Kennedy Mupomba’s cross with a diving header.

Marange said they were working on a plan to stop the hosts and ensure automatic qualification. “I think our victory opened up the group,” said Marange.

“It makes it wide but there is still a lot of work to do. We have watched Mozambique play. We will try and find con-sistency in how they play and we will try to plan to adjust a little bit.

“There isn’t much time to prepare so we have to minimise the information as much as possible to the players. But I am confident we will come up with a plan that we will try and execute on Monday (today) especially after watching them play (their second game against Botswana).