LAST Thursday, Zimbabwe qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals for the third time in a row by knocking out Botswana to book a ticket to the rescheduled 2021 edition of the continental showpiece to be hosted by Cameroon in January. For some reason, the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) have been trying to gain political mileage from the latest achievement, which in all earnest should be credited to the Warriors themselves. This current crop of players led by the inspirational captain Knowledge Musona has managed to deliver results under difficult circumstances. Zifa seem to be content with shoddy preparations, but rush to claim credit when teams have won because of individual efforts. If Zifa are not sending late invites for international assignments to players, they are struggling to secure transport for the team in good time. And for some strange reason, we are one of the many countries that hardly organises competitive friendly matches against other nations during the Fifa calendar weeks. These friendlies are vital in helping the coaches work on combinations and know the players better, but instead, our coaches never have more than two days with the entire team. Friendlies always help improve the ranking of the team, which comes in handy during draws at tournaments. The reason why Zimbabwe always gets the difficult draw is basically because of the ranking, which cannot change when we only play six matches in a year. And Zifa need to improve in that area and create synergies with European countries for friendlies. Zimbabwe is lucky to have a group of players who are ready to sacrifice for their country, players who do not seek luxuries or personal glory when on national duty and give their all for the country. Musona even echoed similar sentiments. “We have a good squad and it’s no coincidence that we are going to the finals for the third time in a row. Sometimes we don’t get good preparations for matches, but we still get good results because we are fighters, hustlers and we are Warriors. We are always ready to fight for our country despite all the challenges,” he said after Zimbabwe booked a place at the next Afcon finals. Instead of trying to steal the thunder from the Warriors, Zifa need to at least reward the players and start proper preparations for the Afcon finals set for January. Our last three appearances at continental tournaments have been a total disaster, with the team crashing out in the first round. And there is always one reason for it, lack of adequate preparations. Zifa also need to make sure that there won’t be any unnecessary sideshows such as rows with players over bonuses and allowances at next year’s finals in Cameroon.

The post Zifa mustn’t claim credit in Warriors recent win appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.