Mwaruwari

March 27th, 2005 THE Warriors revived their hopes of making a second consecutive appearance at the 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt with yesterday's 2-0 win over Angola in a 2006 World Cup/Nations Cup Group Four soccer qualifier before a colourful crowd estimated at 45 000 at the National Sports Stadium. Second-half goals by impressive substitute Shingirai Kawondera and France-based Benjani Mwaruwari moved Zimbabwe into third place with eight points from six games; and the fact that there are two more relatively "easy" home games, there is every reason to believe that the Warriors will be in Egypt next year. Last year, Zimbabwe made their maiden appearance at the Nations Cup finals with former coach Sunday Chidzambwa leading the Warriors to the continental showcase, ending 23 years of misfortune. But a second consecutive qualification looked remote after a poor campaign in the first round of qualifiers last year.

Now Zimbabwe simply need to win the remaining home matches against lightweights Rwanda and Gabon to ensure a ticket to Egypt in January next year, while the other two matches will be away to Algeria and Nigeria.

Getting at least a point in Algeria is possible given the fact that the Desert Foxes are struggling, but the story is different in Nigeria where the Super Eagles have a long history of getting the results they need when playing at home.

There is also another ticket to the 2006 Nations Cup finals - that of the best placed fourth finisher in the event that Egypt finish among the top three in Group Three.

However, that option is currently out of question for the Warriors as Egypt are struggling to keep pace with Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon and Libya for a top-three finish while the 10 points Zimbabwe dropped in the matches against Algeria, Nigeria, Angola and Gabon leaves them in a weaker position.

Kawondera, a 47th minute substitute for Zimbabwe, gave the hosts a deserved lead in the 59th minute after capitalising on poor defending by the Angolans to drill the ball home from the edge of the penalty box before AJ Auxerre striker Mwaruwari headed in the second in the 69th minute. It was his first international goal in almost four years.

The top three teams from each of the five groups will qualify for the Nations Cup finals together with the hosts, while the World Cup ticket is reserved for the group winners only and after the weekend's action, the Group Four ticket is firmly in Nigeria's hands. Nigeria, who will host Zimbabwe in the final qualifier in October, needed two goals in the last six minutes to beat stubborn Gabon 2-0 at home on Saturday and assume leadership of Group Four with 13 points from six matches, two points more than Angola.

The other Group Four match featuring Algeria and Rwanda in Algiers was scheduled to kick off at 8pm last night, but the result has no bearing on the top three places. Angola went into the weekend's programme with an unbeaten record in the group after the opening five matches with three wins over Nigeria, Rwanda and Zimbabwe and two draws against Gabon and Algeria. It was a game of firsts for the Zimbabwe camp yesterday.

Remarkably, yesterday's win gave Zimbabwe their first home win since October 2003, when Chidzambwa's side beat Madagascar in a preliminary round qualifier for the 2006 World Cup campaign, ending a terrible run of two defeats and a draw in competitive matches at home. Between the 3-0 win over Madagascar in October 2003 and yesterday, the Warriors drew 1-1 with Algeria in the second match of the Group Four qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in July last year and lost to Nigeria 0-3 in the fourth match of the group two months later.

Zimbabwe then failed to defend the Cosafa Castle Cup as they fell in the semi-finals, losing to Zambia in a penalty shootout at the National Sports Stadium. Yesterday's win was also Zimbabwe's second in the campaign, their first having come from a 2-0 win over Rwanda on July 3 last year. It also ended a disappointing run of two consecutive defeats against Nigeria (0-3) and Angola (0-1).

For coaches Charles Mhlauri and Moses Chunga, yesterday's win was their first in all forms of international football since they took over from Rahman Gumbo and Brenna Msiska following the home defeat to the Super Eagles. The next round of action will be on the weekend of June 5-6 when Zimbabwe host Gabon in Harare while Angola will be at home to Algeria and leaders Nigeria travel to Kigali for a date with Rwanda.