Tanzanian national team coach Charles Mkwasa has warned the Zimbabwe warriors against complacency during next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals to be held in Gabon.
Speaking to 263Chat in the aftermaths of the Warriors’ 3-0 demolition of the Taifa Stars at the National Sports Stadium, Mkwasa called on Warriors have to up their game if they are to entertain any hopes of progressing from their tough group comprising of African football heavyweights such as, Algeria, Senegal and Tunisia.
“The Zimbabwe team looks solid enough and with more preparations they can cause upsets at AFCON. However, they have to guard against complacency just as they did today. They won the match but were not playing to high standards.
“When they go to AFCON, it will be a big boys’ club, they will have to play the bigger guns for them to progress, hence there is need for them to polish their performances,” added Mkwasa.
He paid tribute to the Warriors, who had to defy obstacles along their way to qualifying for Gabon, describing them as true ambassadors of the country.
Meanwhile, his opposite number, warriors coach, Kalisto Pasuwa lauded the Warriors’ performance.
“It’s not the best of performances but we have many positives to take from the game. We are currently working on our combinations and this was one of the matches to see how far prepared we are for AFCON.
“I’m happy that we are noticing a change in the players’ attitude and positive approach to games. Our plea is for the boys to have more friendly matches before we go to Gabon so that we fine tune the squad,” said Pasuwa.
Zimbabwe warriors scored three goals courtesy of Knowledge Musona, Matthew Rusike and Nyasha Mushekwi. They qualified for Gabon 2017 with a game to spare in what football analysis marked as one of the warriors best performance since their last AFCON qualifications in 2006.
