LET’S MAKE IT A DOUBLE, BOYS

Robson Sharuko, Editor

ON Thursday, we saw the BEAST. This evening we should see the BEAUTY.

Same opponents, with a nickname that has a ringing tone like ours, same stadium, same city, same competition but just different days.

Where it was Namibia versus Zimbabwe on Thursday it is Zimbabwe versus Namibia this evening at the Orlando Stadium.

The match starts at 6pm.

The Warriors versus the Brave Warriors!

The country which was once a Germany colony versus the country with a coach from Germany.

Orlando is the stadium Namibian star Deon Hotto calls home when he is playing for his club Orlando Pirates.

It’s also the stadium Terrence Dzvukamanja also used to call home when he was part of the crew of employees at the Buccaneers.

In the past four days it has flipped from being the adopted home of Namibia to the adopted home of Zimbabwe.

The Namibians provided the beauty in that first battle, with their sleek movement and comfort on the ball catching the eye.

But, they couldn’t provide the finishing product and that was largely due to a good shift which was put in by the ageless Washington Arubi.

The fans call him ‘Sekuru Gudo,’ the wily old baboon which refuses to be swept away by the tide of time and the limitations that age inflicts on us.

Arubi has provided the stability which was lacking when we were experimenting with the youth brigade of our goalkeepers.

He was the Warriors’ best player on Thursday but credit should also be given to his defensive shield in which Gerald Takwara, another of the seasoned campaigners, appears to be back to his authoritative best after a shaky period.

It’s not a sheer coincidence that the Warriors are yet to concede a goal in the 270 minutes they have played under Nees in these AFCON qualifiers.

Cameroon have scored in each of their games, including four against Kenya, except for the game against the Warriors.

Kenya have scored in each of their games, except for the game against the Warriors.

But, for us to see the beauty, Nees’ engine room should click and it’s now an open secret that our midfield, which has the pick of our stars, is not firing.

This should be our strongest area especially when you combine Marvelous Nakamba, Marshall Munetsi and Andy Rinomhota.

Nees knows there will be a lot of twists and turns.

“There are still nine points at stake, the group is still not decided,” he said.

“We have to concentrate more on our passing, our passing has to be very, very good and very sharp, and must be more accurate.”

A victory for us this evening eliminates Namibia from the qualifiers and will put us effectively within just one win of a return to the Nations Cup finals.

That will be a very comfortable position to be in, with two games to go, which makes this evening’s game very, very important.

Yes, we need the style, we need the beauty but what we need more than all this is a WIN.

The rest we can discuss later and from a position of strength.

The post LET’S MAKE IT A DOUBLE, BOYS appeared first on H-Metro.