WARRIORS coach Norman Mapeza believes lack of accuracy in front of goal was their biggest letdown following a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of neighbours South Africa in a World Cup qualifier tie on Thursday.
This was Mapeza’s third straight defeat since replacing Zdravko Logarusic two months ago, having also suffered back-to-back losses against Ghana last month.
Despite his men showing encouraging signs of better and improved football, Mapeza admits to have been frustrated by his team’s wastefulness in the final third.
Warriors failed to be clinical in front of goal — missing some good scoring opportunities, something that has got Mapeza worried as they once again failed to hit the back of the net for the fourth time in the competition.
“The guys played well. I think there were some phases in the game where I think we dominated.
“If you look at opportunities created I think we had some decent ones to win or force a draw but at the end of the day we couldn’t convert,” Mapeza said.
“I think it’s one area that we really need to work hard on. We need to quickly shift our focus to Sunday’s match and try and improve on some of these things.
“It will be important to finish on a high. We obviously want to get maximum points against Ethiopia.”
Warriors applied pressure on several occasions with Kaizer Chiefs attacker and captain of the day, Khama Billiat, leading the attack.
They, however, squandered a clear-cut opportunity when Ismael Wadi went face-to-face with Ronwen Williams but only for Thibang Phethe to make a timeous tackle.
Bafana Bafana appeared to lower their tempo, allowing the Warriors to dominate.
Warriors appeared more reinvigorated early in the second half as Billiat tested Williams from a set-piece, but that didn’t bear any fruits as the Bafana captain comfortably collected.
Mapeza also rang changes in the second half bringing in Marvelous Nakamba and Billiat for Farai Madhananga and Bill Antonio.
The changes, however, failed to bear fruit as Bafana defended their lead.
“Everybody knows Khama and Marvelous and in as much as we were chasing the game I thought they gave everything they had.
‘‘But look if we are to build a team for the future we need to give some other guys opportunities to play football,” Mapeza said.
“This youngster Bill Antonio has been doing well for Dynamos not forgetting other local youngsters who have been doing well locally.
‘‘If opportunity arises I will continue giving them a chance because I feel they are the future of Zimbabwean football.”
Warriors remain glued at the bottom of Group G with a single point from five matches.
A victory tomorrow for the Warriors would at least give the team a shot at avoiding the ignominy of the wooden spoon, though they will need to show better finishing compared to their efforts against Bafana Bafana in midweek.
Ethiopia, meanwhile, claimed a creditable 1-1 draw at ‘home’ to Ghana in Soweto on Thursday, with Getaneh Kebede cancelling out Andre Ayew’s opener for the Black Stars.
The result did nothing to help the Walia Ibex’s qualification chances — they had been eliminated last month already — but they bloodied the nose of a heavyweight like Ghana and will see that as a major boost ahead of playing in the Africa Cup of Nations finals early next year.
