WARRIORS captain Marshall Munetsi is confident that the senior national football team can qualify to the 2026 Fifa World Cup as they resume the campaign for a place at USA, Canada and Mexico showcase with a tricky tie against Lesotho at Orlando Stadium in Soweto this afternoon.
With just two points in the bag going into today's match, the Warriors are desperate for a win which would see them climb up the Group C ladder.
After today’S match, the Warriors face South Africa in Bloemfontein on Tuesday to round up action for this Fifa window.
Munetsi said the group in camp is in high spirits and is primed to fight hard for the points that would enhance their qualification bid.
"Morale is very good because everyone is focused on doing something that Zimbabwe has never done before. If we want to achieve something of this magnitude we have to work as a team so people are just focused," the Reims midfielder told the media at a Press conference.
The Warriors are in the same group as South Africa and Nigeria, who have been to the finals before and are currently playing well, but Munetsi is still convinced they can make it ahead of them.
"Without belief we wouldn't be here. So it's the belief that brings us here. Everyone believes that we can make it so we have to also make sure that the people at home and the people that are going to come and support us have that belief also."
He said that mantra will be taking each game as a final considering how tough it is going to be to qualify for the finals.
- Village Rhapsody: 2022 Afcon: What’s in it for Warriors?
- Village Rhapsody: 2022 Afcon: What’s in it for Warriors?
- Mapaya disappoints at World Athletics Champs
- Sprinter Matiyenga fails to reach semi-finals
Keep Reading
Zimbabwe should have good support base in today's match and the Warriors will feel at home although they are playing outside the country's borders.
"For us each game is a final because if you don't win one game you may fail to make it through. We are very fortunate enough because we drew the first two games away from home and now we play here in South Africa which gives us a huge advantage. So for us it's just taking each game as a final and we don't look far ahead and focus on what we have at that moment."
The Warriors have in this short space of time learnt to respect each other and work as a team.
"We have to integrate as different people, different cultures and tribes. So it's not a difficult thing you try to respect everyone and find common ground because we are playing for the Zimbabwe national team. For me, as captain, it's just been an easy job because most of the guys that are there have been there for a long time and we are good friends even outside football so it makes the job that much easier. I think the word captain is just a word that goes on to mention other leaders that include other players the coaches and staff who work behind the scenes. We work together as a group."
Having drawn most of their players from South Africa over the last decades, the squad composition has changed now with a lot of European-based players.
For Munetsi, the coming in of European-based players has strengthened the squad.
"Now the squad composition has changed because of the net that we are casting very wide. We used to have a lot of good South African-based players, but now we have a lot of European based players. It gives us an added advantage because we have a lot of international players at the highest level and most of them are still young so the future is bright. We have to manage them to have that continuity."
Some of the European based players that could hog the limelight include Wolves' striker Tawanda Chirewa and Leicester's Tawanda Maswanhise who are in line for their international debuts today.
It will be interesting to see how coach Jairos Tapera, presiding over the national team for the first time, will line up his charges.
Munetsi and defenders Devine Lunga and Teenage Hadebe are some of the mainstays of the team.
