It was good to see Zimbabweans gather at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport to welcome and celebrate their Warriors' qualification to the finals of Afcon 2025.
It was good to see all — the young and the old — dressed in their national colours beating their drums, singing and dancing as they celebrated adding another chapter to their history books.
We did not say as they celebrated history because it is no longer history as history came in 2004 when the Warriors made their first Afcon qualification under the coaching guidance of Sunday Chidzambwa.
This is just an addition of another chapter to the Zimbabwe football books following qualification in 2004, 2006, 2017, 2019, and 2022, but memorable because it is the Warriors' sixth qualification.
It is also memorable due to the fact that the Warriors did not miss out on the trip in which southern Africa is sending seven teams including Angola, Botswana, the Comoros, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.
What will also be remembered about this qualification is that it was achieved after the Warriors played all their six qualifying matches in foreign lands as the National Sports Stadium is barred from hosting international football.
The Zimbabwe Warriors played their home matches against Cameroon in Uganda, and then faced Namibia and Kenya in South Africa.
As for away assignments, they played Kenya in Uganda, Namibia in South Africa, and Cameroon in Yaounde, Cameroon.
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Whatever, the case is, there is nothing to get too excited about qualifying for Afcon 2025 in Morocco because it is just a routine achievement moreso coming from a weak Group J where Zimbabwe — as happened — were expected to come out second to Cameroon.
What is important is looking back to our previous Afcon final appearances and identify what made us fail to reach the second round in five shows when traditionally weak teams like Malawi were making it.
In fact, the last time around at the finals in Cameroon, Norman Mapeza's Warriors finished bottom of the group behind Senegal, Guinea, and Malawi.
In all our appearances, Zimbabwe went to the finals with local coaches Sunday Chidzambwa in 2004, Charles Mhlauri in 2006, Kalisto Pasuwa in 2017, and Chidzambwa again in 2019.
Does this mean that our local coaches were not good enough to handle the team at the finals or that we did not have the quality in terms of players?
Or that there was something else that we did not do right in terms of the teams' preparations which we should correct and perfect this time around?
What we know for sure is that this time around Zimbabwe will have a foreign coach in the form of Michael Nees of Germany whom we all agree that technically and tactically he is attuned to the demands of Afcon.
Whoever will be Zifa president needs to make sure that funds are available to give the Warriors time in camp in Europe to prepare for the pressure of the tournament.
We surely might blame the local coaches for their failure at the finals but were they given enough time with the team to perfect combinations ahead of the finals? The answer would be NO.
Were their players mentally and emotionally prepared for the rigours and pressure of Afcon? The answer would be another NO, because on all occasions they went to the finals with Zifa owing them a lot in terms of bonuses and allowances.
Lest we forget; how many times did we have protests by the players over unpaid dues before, during, and after Afcon to the extent that the Warriors in 2022 nearly boycotted their opening match against Senegal until they were paid in the middle of the night.
Yet all our fingers pointed at the coach for the failure in Egypt, Tunisia, Gabon and Cameroon, forgetting that there were other contributing factors to the demise.
Lucky enough for Nees, he will have the remaining 2026 World Cup Qualifiers to help him prepare in the build-up to Afcon 2025.
The Warriors will play Benin twice before engagements against Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa, which are enough matches for the coach to fine tune his team for Afcon.
We should not lie to ourselves that our team is strong enough because we qualified. A lot needs to be done to perfect that team even if it means sacrificing the likes of Marvelous Nakamba,Teenage Hadebe, and others, for fresh inspiration.
This is not the time to call players on what they did in the past or who they play for, but the form of the moment as proved by goalkeeper Washington Arubi.
What we are simply pointing out is that the Warriors need to be reshaped, Zifa needs to organise serious friendly matches against teams with names in international football, should make funds available for camping, bonuses, and allowances — Perhaps in that way, we will reach the second round come Morocco 2025.
*For your views, comments, and suggestions mkariati@gmail.com or WhatsApp on 071 0774 596.
