Zimbabwe goal scorer Tawanda Maswanhise - Photo by ZIFA Media.
Zimbabwe head coach Michael Nees has admitted that the Warriors were very nervous during their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying fixture against Kenya but was happy they finally achieved their target of qualifying for the tournament in Morocco.
The Warriors joined Cameroon as qualified teams from Group J following their 1-1 draw against Harambee Stars at Peter Makoba Stadium in Polokwane City, South Africa on Friday.
After a tense start to the game, it was Zimbabwe who took the lead against the run of play when Tawanda Maswanhise finished off a brilliant cross from Khama Billiat and they went into the half-time break leading 1-0. However, Kenya battled hard in the second half and they levelled matters when Jonah Ayunga scored in the 52nd minute.
Speaking after the game, the Belgian tactician said: “We had a very nervous start and we had a huge blunder in the beginning, I think it was Marvelous [Nakamba], he was not just focused and we had a spectacular save from the keeper to keep us in the game, it could have gone different from that situation.
“We took about 15 to 20 minutes to come into the game, we had too many mistakes, we couldn’t keep the ball, you could see a little bit of nervousness because we knew what is at stake, if we couldn’t have achieved qualification, it could have been a quite difficult task to beat Cameroon away with a 30 minutes hour travel in between.
“We kept growing and got better in the game and we scored the opener, we started to play well and in the second half, in my opinion we came more confident into the game and then we conceded a goal out of nothing, I couldn’t see it again on TV and then it became a mental game after going 1-1, anything could have happened in the situation because this is football.
“Kenya tried to punish my players with long balls, they also created a lot of chances that they could have finished but we calmed our nerves and got the point that we wanted, we have qualified and that was our overall objective that we set out three months ago, we achieved it with one game to spare and I think we can be happy for the success.”
Nees had a message to Zimbabwe fans, who throng the match venue to cheer them on: “I want to thank the supporters who came today, I think it was a very good crowd and I think it was the right decision to play in Polokwane, they really pushed us to the energy that we needed in this game.”
“When I came here three months ago, I was fully supported by ZIFA, no interfearance from any quarter, no fishy smell around the team like it should be in football.”
The outcome confirmed Zimbabwe as the second team to qualify from the group after Cameroon as they reached nine points, four more than Kenya, who are lying third ahead of the last group matches on Tuesday.
Kenya will face Namibia while Zimbabwe will come up against Cameroon.
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