Warriors Win Cosafa Opener

By Perkins-Tino Bare
The Warriors put the boardroom squabbles at 53 Livingstone behind them as they got their campaign to a flying start as they  beat Maritius 2-0 in ther opening encounter of the 2015 Cosafa Cup played yesterday at Moruleng Stadium in South Africa.
Zimbabwe started piling on the pressure early as the Mauritian goalkeeper was an early contender for man of the match following a couple of heroic saves which kept his team in it. Zimbabwe got their opening goal from Carlos Rusere in the 28th minute putting the Warriors in the lead after he capitalised from a good cross from Hardlife Zvirekwi.
Hardlife, whose name the commentators could not stop making fun of all night had a great game as he looked threatening on the right wing. The Warriors could have led by bigger margin but the Mauritian goalminder ensured that he made up for his team`s flaws. Also a bit of impatience in Zimbabwe`s build up also saw a lot of chances being wasted as they had to resort to long range shots and were not building up from the midfield into the attack. Once the ball was in the other half they were just getting on the edge of the box and taking ambitious long range shots which did not bother the keeper at all.
Ronald Chitiyo on the other hand held on to the ball for too long as he looked pumped to make an impression but if he does not put a check to it might end up costing the team dearly.
At the back Zimbabwe looked strong especially with Partson Jaure who brought stability to the back four and whenever he dispatched an attack it looked threatening as he dispatched them long and deep into the Mauritian half. Also the skipper Danny Phiri was strong and whenever he went forward he looked threatening especially on the edge of the box.  On the right wing Chitiyo and Zvirekwi were combining well and they were tearing through that right channel. Chitiyo soon got his goal of the night as he punished them, after Jean-Louis` made the same mistake he had made in the first half. This then doubled the warriors lead and put to bed the prospects of an equaliser.
 The match was one sided as Maritius never looked in it at any moment . In the first half the Zimbabwean goalkeeper Chigova who hasn`t had much game-time at Supersport was literally on vacation as most of the action was just there for him to watch.  Chigova is yet to fully tested in terms of match fitness as his spell at Supersport is yet to turn for the better.
Chaminuka`s charges looked comfortable in the second half as well as they then went on to double their lead bringing diminishing any hopes of a late comeback from Mauritus. He introduced the FC Platinum yougster Marshall Mudehwe in the 76th minute after he had introduced Talent Chawapihwa who looks set to sparkle given his form in the domestic league.
Zimbabwe`s next match will be against the Seychelles on Tuesday before playing Namibia to round off their group encounters. The Warriors have to finish top of their group to advance to the next round where thye are going to meet the likes of Angola Botswana and the hosts South Africa. Zimbabwe lost out in the final the last time the tournament was played in Zambia going down 2-0 when they were then under the tutelage of Klaus Dietar Pagels. The return of the Cosafa tournament is a welcome innovation if I may call it that to most Zimbabwean football lovers as iit has become the Warriors flagship tournament and this time Chaminuka called two foreign-based players in Partson Jaure and George Chigova.

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