Lovemore Chazingwa
Harare-Zimbabwe schools national teams put up below par performances at the ongoing CAF African Schools Football Championships Continental Finals which are underway at Gateway High School.
The tournament kicked off on Monday April 6 with finals slated for Friday April 10.
The young Mighty Warriors and their counterparts, young Warriors found the going tough in the group stages.
After the end of group stage matches, young Warriors managing 2 points, sit third on the log in pool A while the young Mighty Warriors with a single point anchor their group A pool.
Only two top teams automatically qualify to the next stage.
The only ray of hope left for qualifying to the next stage lies with the boys who have a mathematical chance as one of the third best placed teams.
Young Warriors contend for that slot against Tanzania who also accumulated an equal number of points.
On day one the girls faced Morocco, managing a two all draw in the match.
On match day two, the girls succumbed to the might of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on a 0 – 1 scoreline. In the second match of the day, the young Mighty Warriors felt the weight of neighbours Zambia falling 1 – 3 in an exciting but tense match.
On the boys side, the young Warriors played out two draws, both one all outcomes against Uganda on the first day and DRC on match day two. The boys went on to lose 1 – 2 to northerners, Morrocco in their second match of the day.
From the look of things, a shorter preparatory time and match fitness were among the major contributing factors to the teams’ undoing.
The other teams have heavily built players among most of their lot while our players were physically outdone on stamina.
The other countries had at least three months to prepare for the annual championships. On the other end, most countries now apply nutritional components on their training schedule.
The tournament was switched to Zimbabwe at the eleventh hour after original hosts Mozambique flagged incapacitation due to floods that ravaged that country in the 2025 – 26 rain season.
“Our teams were tactically impressive from day one. It’s only that they didn’t have ample time to prepare. I understand they only had two weeks to ready themselves for the tournament, qualifying as hosts. However, they are having an invaluable experience that they will continue to use in the future,” said Miriro Matanha who came to watch matches on the two opening days.
The continental championships are sponsored by the Patrice Motsepe Foundation.
