ZIMBABWE international striker, Tendai Ndoro has blamed ill-preparedness for the Warriors’ shoddy performance at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals, where they crashed out in the group stages.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
Ndoro, who scored one of the goals in the humiliating 4-2 defeat to Tunisia, which saw the Warriors finishing bottom of their group, with only a point to show, was brutally frank with the way the team prepared for the biggest continental soccer showcase.
He said the team didn’t have adequate preparations and that it was always going to be difficult at the Afcon because they had not played enough friendly matches together as a team.
“We were very unfortunate; things didn’t work well for us. But this was a learning curve, and we will bounce back and do well in future tournaments. I think we didn’t have adequate preparations and that cost us as a team. We managed to play just one international friendly match, but if you look at other teams like Tunisia and Algeria, they played a number of friendlies. I tell you, if this team had been supported, in terms of their preparations, it was going to surprise,” Ndoro said.
This team had been billed as the best since the one assembled by the late Reinhard Fabisch, who is credited for creating the Dream Team of the early 1990s.
Expectations were high that it would surpass the achievements of the teams that participated at the previous editions in 2004 in Tunisia under Sunday Chidzambwa and then in 2006 under Charles Mhlauri.
Both teams failed to progress beyond the group stages.
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But the Class of 2017, led by Kalisto Pasuwa, capitulated in spectacular fashion at the biennial soccer showcase currently under way in Gabon.
Pasuwa’s men fared worse than the previous teams, as they bowed out with just a point, having managed a 2-2 draw against Algeria in their opening match of the campaign before losing to Senegal and Tunisia.
Ndoro, who plays for South African Premiership side, Orlando Pirates, said he was happy to score for the Warriors and that it would give him confidence, as he shifts focus to club football.
“I was happy to get the opportunity to play my first Afcon finals. I was particularly pleased to score, but obviously, it pains everyone that we didn’t progress. The goal I scored has boosted my confidence, as I return to play for my club. The confidence is there and I will go and do what I am supposed to be doing – scoring goals,” he said.
The Zimbabwe international, who is the leading goalscorer in the South African Premiership with 11 goals, said he doesn’t set himself targets, but would continue to work hard and try to score as many goals as possible.
