Esrom Nyandoro

(JAN 23, 2006) ZIMBABWE’S Warriors collapsed in the second half after being caught on the break twice in similar fashion in a fiery opening match here last night that will certainly complicate issues in their latest bid to win the Nations Cup finals. Charles Mhlauri’s men somehow just managed to hang on in the first half, thanks to a spirited show at the back by man-of-match James Matola, but their resistance was broken twice in the final half of this Group D match. Goals by the lively Henri Camara in the 58th minute and substitute Issa Ba, with his first touch of the match in the 80th minute, sent the Warriors spinning to a defeat that sank them to the bottom of the Group of Death. But the talking point of the match, and certainly for a very long time to come, will always be the incredible miss by Warriors’ star forward Benjani Mwaruwari in the 69th minute.

The Portsmouth striker won a tussle with his marker after a high ball had been pumped into the penalty area and found himself clear on goal. He moved forward, had the presence of mind to calm himself down and saw goalkeeper Tony Silva going down as he anticipated Benjani to open fire. That left Benjani with an open goal, with the ’keeper down, but somehow, from about four metres, he sent his effort soaring high into the sky.

Had Benjani scored, as a striker of his calibre should do on such occasions and from such a distance, then the Warriors would have drawn level and it could have been anyone’s game from then on. That was the decisive moment of the game, which Senegal controlled, but from which the Warriors could have stolen a point. Warriors’ coach Mhlauri conceded as much in his post-match comments.

"We created the decisive chance of the game but that was missed by Benjie. "It was a decisive moment because we could have equalised and then come back to finish them off. "But that happens in football and we should now start preparing for our next match," said Mhlauri. The coach has a lot to work on ahead of the Warriors’ second match against the Super Eagles of Nigeria here on Friday.

The Warriors were too vulnerable down the left side, their midfield struggled to compete with the big boys in the Senegal side and their creativity was at its lowest.

For long periods they played second fiddle, chasing shadows all night and only the intervention of Matola, who turned on a steely show at the back, kept keeping us in the game. Given their shortcomings against a clearly superior opponent, the Warriors resorted to pumping long balls upfront, hoping to catch the Lions of Teranga on the break, but they just could not find any joy. Their two strikers - Benjani and Shingi Kawondera - found themselves isolated for long periods in the first half and they were forced to keep coming back for supply. Senegal created the first chance after just six minutes when Camara Diouf flicked the ball goalwards and Zimbabwe goalkeeper Gift Muzadzi was off guard, beaten by both the pace and flight of the touch, but El-Hadji Diou failed to connect.

The Warriors' reply came in the 13th minute when Peter Ndlovu found Benjani wide on the right and his cross, low and firm, was diverted clear of a charging Kawondera who was arriving a shade late. Despite this scare the Teranga Lions were in control and kept pouring forward, especially down the left side where Cephas Chimedza, Edzai Kasinauyo and Edelbert Dinha could not offer the required resistance in the first half.

Now and again the Senegalese broke through but somehow they just could not find the breakthrough with Matola and Muzadzi firm, with the defender's tackle to cut the ball aimed at Camara in the 43rd minute, while he was lying on the ground, a beautiful piece of defence. It was still goalless when the Warriors trooped out for the break and, with frustration creeping into their opponents, the feeling was that our boys had got their tactics right. But just 13 minutes after the break the Teranga Lions took the lead.

The impressive Habib Beye blocked the ball down the left in a Zimbabwe raid and quickly converted defence into attack with a sublime pass down that channel. It is the kind of invitation that Camara thrives on.

In an instant the speedster was tearing down the left side with the Warriors' defence all at sea and he easily dribbled his way past the drawnout Muzadzi before rolling the ball home. Mhlauri was forced to make a change, pulling out Dinha, who simply had not adjusted to the intensity of this battle, for Tinashe Nengomasha who brought life into the midfield.

A few minutes later he also replaced Ndlovu with Joel Luphahla who also injected life into the game.

In the 69th minute, the decisive moment came for Zimbabwe.

And Benjani knows that there is no defence for his terrible miss. The miss appeared to drain life out of the Warriors and 10 minutes from time the Senegalese killed this match as a contest with their second goal. Camara appeared blocked and running into a blind alley down the right with Matola monitoring him.

But the talented striker swept past Matola and also past Chimedza, with a similar dribbling stunt, and then drew the ball back for Ba to fire past Muzadzi. There was no coming back for Zimbabwe from such a position and, just to show how strong they are, the Senegslese even introduced giant midfielder Bouba-Diop after this close to really close shop. For the Warriors it will be a very tough battle from here.

Teams

Zimbabwe: Muzadzi, Mbwando, Matola, Makonese, Chimedza, , Dinha (Nengomasha 60th min), Nyandoro, Kasinauyo (Badza 84th min), Ndlovu (Luphahla 65th min), Benjani, Kawondera

Senegal: Silva, Diawara, Barry, H. Camara, A. Faye (Diop 84th min), Diouf (Ba 78th min), Diatta, Kamara (Niang 62nd min), Coly, D. Faye, Beye Please send us Feedback