Mhlauri relishes 'game of my life'

Mhlauri relishes 'game of my life'

• Murambadoro settles for Palace

• Arubi gets surprise call-up to Warriors squad

• Cosafa Cup heroes to get land

• Zimbabwe lift Cosafa Cup

By Edison Chikamhi / Nyasha Mapuwei

ZIMBABWE national soccer team coach Charles Mhlauri said the game against Rwanda on Sunday is the most important in his career since taking over the Warriors job last year.

He said, the match that may see the team securing a place for next year’s African Cup of Nations finals, is important in two ways since a win will also enhance the Warriors’ chances of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Germany depending on the results in matches involving leaders Angola and Nigeria respectively.

“This is the most important game in my career because a win on Sunday will secure a place for the team at the next Nations Cup. It is important for me and the team,” said Mhlauri.

Asked about the hot issue of appointing an assistant coach to replace Moses Chunga, Mhlauri who has been going it alone since the dismissal of the latter revealed that goalkeepers’ trainer Emmanuel Nyahuma is currently the acting assistant coach.

“I am happy that the technical department has been doing all their best to make sure that we deliver the results. Nyahuma has been helping me with training the team and I can say he has been acting as my assistant coach. He is the acting assistant coach,” said Mhlauri.

The team’s morale was further boosted by the arrival of Energy Murambadoro who has been in England on trials with First Division side, Crystal Palace.

Murambadoro arrived in the afternoon and joined the rest of the team as they went through their paces at the National Sports Stadium.

Mhlauri who recently won the Cosafa Castle Cup is seeking the glory of being the second coach to qualify for the African Cup of nations following the maiden accomplishment by Sunday Chidzambwa for the 2004 edition.

Mhlauri and Chunga replaced Rahman Gumbo and Brenna Msiska who were fired last year following the team’s embarrassing 0-3 home defeat to Nigeria amid revelations of gross indiscipline during the run-up to the game.
Since then, Mhlauri has added seven points to the campaign after winning two games, drawing one and losing one to Angola.

Gumbo and Msiska had collected five points in the team’s first four games in which they won once against Rwanda and drew against Angola and Algeria.
Together with Chunga as assistant coach, they opened their account in this campaign on a losing note when they fell 0-1 away to Angola in Luanda.

They collected maximum points on their next two assignments after beating Angola 2-0 and Gabon 1-0. Zimbabwe were lucky to come off with a point when captain Peter Ndlovu grabbed a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw away in Algeria in their last World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations outing.

Zimbabwe’s work might also be made easier if group leaders Angola beat visiting Gabon who pose a threat to the Warriors’ campaign.

Zimbabwe are on 12 points, three ahead of Gabon. According to the head to head rule, if Zimbabwe lose to Rwanda and Gabon lose to Angola, the Warriors still progress to the African Cup of Nations because the West Africans’ highest possible number of points would have been reduced to 12 points.

But Mhlauri said they were leaving no stone unturned in their preparations and were not going to be flattered by the underdog tag attached to the Wasps who lost the first leg 0-2 to the Warriors in Kampala.

“This is going to be a new game. We are now finalising on our preparations and we have a big pool of players to choose the team from. Instead of getting headaches in selecting from the large pool, I view this as a positive problem because it is important to broaden the player base.

“Our primary focus is the Africa Cup of Nations, something that looks achievable at the moment. We should not put ourselves under pressure at the moment but if we win against Rwanda then we would have to look ahead to the game against Nigeria if we still have the chance for the World Cup,” said Mhlauri - Daily Mirror

LATEST LOG GROUP FOUR
[The draw also acts as qualifying for the 2006 African Nations Cup. The winner of each group will compete in the 2006 World Cup, while the top three in each group qualify for the 2006 Nations Cup]

TEAM		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS
1	Angola	8	4	3	1	8	6	15
2	Nigeria	8	4	3	1	11	4	15
3	Zimbabwe	8	3	3	2	9	8	12
4	Gabon	8	2	3	3	11	10	9
5	Algeria	8	1	4	3	6	10	7
6	Rwanda	8	1	2	5	5	12	5

Fixtures: 2004

June 5: Nigeria 2-0 Rwanda; Gabon 1-1 Zimbabwe; Algeria 0-0 Angola

June 19: Rwanda 3-1 Gabon
June 20: Zimbabwe 1-1 Algeria; Angola 1-0 Nigeria

July 3: Nigeria 1-0 Algeria; Gabon 2-2 Angola; Rwanda 0-2 Zimbabwe

September 5: Algeria 0-3 Gabon; Zimbabwe 0-3 Nigeria; Angola 1-0 Rwanda

October 9: Gabon 1-1 Nigeria; Rwanda 1-1 Algeria
October 10:Angola 1-0 Zimbabwe

2005

March 26: Nigeria 2-0 Gabon
March 27: Zimbabwe 2-0 Angola; Algeria 1-0 Rwanda

June 5: Zimbabwe 1-0 Gabon; Angola 2-1 Algeria; Rwanda 1-1 Nigeria

June 18: Nigeria 1-1 Angola; Gabon 3-0 Rwanda
June 19: Algeria 2-2 Zimbabwe

September 2: Algeria v Nigeria
September 4: Zimbabwe v Rwanda; Angola v Gabon

October 8: Nigeria v Zimbabwe; Gabon v Algeria
October 9: Rwanda v Angola

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