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Will Warriors Get Slot in Africa Nations Championship Finals?


Some Zimbabweans are using a crowd funding application, gofundme, to raise money for the broke Warriors soccer squad.
Some Zimbabweans are using a crowd funding application, gofundme, to raise money for the broke Warriors soccer squad.

The Zimbabwe Warriors are in the driving seat of their 2016 Africa Nations Championship campaign.

A 2-0 victory over the Comoros at Rufaro Stadium on Sunday gave the Warriors a head start in their quest for a third qualification in the Africa Nations Championships to be held in Rwanda.

The Warriors did not put up a fine performance but still came out victors to brighten their chances of qualifying for the continental football festival.

Although they took an early 10th minute lead through Evans Rusike, the Warriors left it late to secure a comfortable victory through Marshall Mudewe, who scored in the 88th minute for that vital 2-0 win.

Coach Kalisto Pasuwa thinks the two goals scored will be very crucial in the return leg in the Comoros in two weeks time.

The former Dynamos coach, who also handles the Zimbabwe Under 23 side, thinks complacency got the better of his side as they could have won with a wide margin.

However, football analyst Lovemore Matambanadzo thinks Zimbabwe played well but missed a lot of chances.

Matambanadzo says the Warriors are likely to win the return leg with an avalanche of goals if they fully utilize all their chances.

The Warriors are bidding to qualify for the Africa Nations Championships for the third time in a row.

The Africa Nations Championships are different from the Africa Cup of Nations in terms of format.

Unlike the Africa Cup of Nations, qualification for the Africa Nations Championships is on a regional basis and Southern Africa has three slots.

Should Zimbabwe overcome the Comoros, they will face the winner of the tie between Botswana and Lesotho.

The two teams played a goalless draw in Maseru on Sunday.

Meanwhile, some Zimbabweans are now using crowd funding application, gofundme.com, to raise money for Pasuwa, the technical team and players, who have not been paid allowances for a long time by the broke Zimbabwe Football Association.

Well-wishers have so far raised $275 of the targeted $5,000 for the Warriors since the launch of the fund five days ago in an attempt to motivate them to do well in the Africa safari.

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