The Warriors,Liberia,Mali and Cape Verde together in the 2012 qualifiers
The Warriors have been drawn in a tough group alongside Liberia, Mali and Cape Verde in the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifiers. The 28th edition of the Nations Cup draw was held in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday afternoon and the qualifiers start in September this year.
Warriors’ captain Benjani Mwaruwari speaking from his United Kingdom base described the draw as “tough”.
“The draw is tough. There are no small teams in Africa, if you look at the showing of the just-ended Nations Cup in Angola. We have to win every game to qualify,” Mwaruwari said. Mwaruwari was on the bench for his new side Sunderland’s match against Arsenal yesterday.
The Warriors were conspicuous by their absence at the recent African Cup of Nations in Angola, having also missed out on the 2008 edition in Ghana. Zimbabwe have also been forced to continue with their long wait for a maiden place at the World Cup following a dismal qualification campaign for the 2010 showcase in South Africa in June.
The Warriors — then under the guidance of Brazilian Jose Valinhos — fell at the preliminary stage of the Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers. Yesterday Mwaruwari was confident that this time around the Warriors would qualify for the Nations Cup to be co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in 2012.
However, they will have to pass the hurdle presented by Mali, Liberia and Cape Verde. Mali is one of the strongest teams in the Group as they qualified for the last edition of the Nations Cup in Angola before being knocked out in the first round. But in 1972 they reached the Nations Cup final.
Liberia did not qualify for the 2004 and 2010 edition of the Nations Cup but are no pushovers. The Lone Stars qualified for the 1996 and 1992 Nations Cup. Cape Verde is the weakest team in the group and has never qualified for the Nations Cup.
The Warriors last made an appearance at the Nations Cup in 2004 and 2006. Meanwhile from the draw, 44 teams will take part in the qualifying series. The teams will be battling for the 14 spots for the final tournament.
The teams were drawn into eleven groups of four teams each and will play each other on a round-robin basis. The winners of each group will qualify for the finals as well as the three best second placed teams.
Egypt won the last edition of Nations Cup a record seven times including three consecutive wins in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
Togo were excluded from yesterday’s draw but could still be included at a later date if their appeal over a ban from the next two Nations Cups with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) is successful.
The team is banned for the two editions of the Nations Cup after they decided not play in Angola, following an attack on their team, which left some three team members dead.
Posted by Sakhile Malaba
on February 21, 2010. Filed under Soccer,Sports.
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