Zimbabwe’s Warriors: Photo Credit:
Zimbabwe Football Association.
Zimbabwe coach Michael Nees has praised his Warriors for coming from two goals down to force a two-all draw with Benin at Moses Mabhida Stadium in South Africa on Thursday evening in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
In a post-match interview, the German described the Group C game as being played at a high pace of AFCON final standard, further justifying his decision to substitute veterans Khama Billiat and Knowledge Musona.
“It was a very intensive game; very fast. It was an AFCON [final] level match for me, you needed to bring in fresh legs. It is very simple. It was the same with the other substitutes. We wanted to bring players who could enter the opponents’ box very quickly…I thought quicker guys with lower centre of gravity could make a difference,” he said
“We gave everything. Knowledge was showing signs of fatigue and Khama also. We cannot ignore realities.”
Nees described the result against Benin as impressive, reminding people that Benin coach Gernot Rohr is a top tactician.
“This is a very good team, Benin. It is not by chance that they are standing on [top] of the table. Their coach is experienced and has worked with them for two years. It is not by chance that they beat Nigeria and they played a draw against Nigeria.”
Nees’ side stared defeat in the face after Steve Mounie and Dodo Dokou had scored for the visitors in the 12th and 36th minutes only for Wolverhampton Wolves’ new signing Marshall Munetsi to reduce the deficit with a minute to the break.
The comeback was complete as recalled forward Musona scored again for Zimbabwe who now switch attention to an even tougher challenge in Nigeria on March 24.
The Warriors sit at the bottom of the group with three points from five games, five points behind Benin who jumped from third place to the top as of Thursday displacing Rwanda and South Africa.
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