Chidzambga eyes top eight finish at Afcon

The Zimbabwe national soccer team is eyeing a top eight finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals which kicks off on June 21 in Cairo, Egypt.The Warriors play hosts Egypt in the opening match and head coach Sunday Chidzambga is bullish his charges will progress to the quarter finals.

“We are not going to Egypt to make up numbers, but to compete. We have been at the finals before. It was a learning curve, but this time we want to show the world that we are football nation,” Chidzambga told Business Times.

“I have confidence in the current team which has a lot of talent. I think we will reach the quarter-finals. If we manage to reach that stage, something special will happen. Who knows? We might as well go all the way.”

The Warriors are in the same group with the Pharaohs of Egypt, who will be spearheaded by Liverpool kingpin Mohammed Salah, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. Zimbabwe have never met Uganda and the DRC at the finals, while the duel against Egypt is a repeat at the extravaganza following their clash against the same
opponents in Tunisia 15 years ago.

As fate would have it, Egypt were the first opponents against the Warriors when they made a maiden appearance at the finals in Tunisia in a match Zimbabwe lost 2-1.

It was in that match that former Warriors striker Wilfred Mugeyi spectacularly missed a gilt-edged chance which could have made sure Chidzambga’s men progress to the next round. Former skipper Peter Ndlovu scored Zimbabwe’s only goal.

But that is now history.The Warriors will face an Egyptian side beaming with talent from the competitive English Premiership in the form of Salah and Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny. What makes the Warriors’ chances of advancing to the next stage is the fact that the top two teams in the group stages are guaranteed of the second round dance, unlike in the past where one
team would make it. The top two teams and four best third-placed sides are going through.

Egypt will give Zimbabwe a run for their money, but it against the Congolese and Ugandans that the Warriors will fancy the prospects of collecting maximum points.

Led by captain Knowledge Musona, Zimbabwe beat DRC away in Kinshasa before drawing at home in the qualifiers.

The Warriors this week started trooping into camp in preparation for the crunch finals and Chidzambga says the team’s chances are bright.

EGYPT

Egypt is the most successful national team in Africa, having won the Africa Cup of Nations a record seven times: the inaugural edition in 1957 and on home soil in 1959, the 1986 crown, the 1998 edition in Burkina Faso, and three successive titles in 2006, 2008 and 2010. Egypt has also been as high as ninth in the FIFA World Rankings making the team one of only three African national sides to enter the world’s top ten (the other two are Nigeria and Morocco).

Despite their respectable continental record, Egypt has so far made only three appearances in the World Cup (1934, 1990 and 2018). The Egypt national team was the first team not from the Americas or Europe to qualify for the World Cup. Egypt is notorious for holding a spectacular continental record but yet failing to deliver on the world stage. Their first and second participation was separated by 56 years and 13 days, a record.

Their  third participation was 28 years and 3 days later. Another record Egypt holds is the oldest player to have every played at the World Cup. Goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, at 45 years old, played the full 90 minutes against Saudi Arabia, where he was able to save a penalty.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
DR Congo have been ranked as high as 28 in the FIFA Rankings. As Zaire they were the first sub Saharan African team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup and twice won AFCON.  DRC had its first international success at the 1968 edition held in Ethiopia where they beat Ghana 1-0 in the final.

The team’s biggest ever win came on November 22 in 1969 when they recorded a 10–1 home victory against Zambia. Although a handful of Congolese players were playing in Europe (particularly Belgium) during these years, foreign-based players were seldom recalled for international duty; a rare exception was Julien Kialunda who represented Zaire (as the country was by then known) at the 1972 finals while playing for Anderlecht.

The second continental title came at the 1974 edition in Egypt where the Leopards beat Zambia 2-0 in the final. On the road to the final, the Leopards dismissed Guinea 2-1, Congo 2-1, hammered Mauritius 4-1 and saw off hosts Egypt 3-2.UGANDA
Their best finish in the Africa Cup of Nations was a second place in 1978 final.