Warriors coach Michael Nees remains confident that the team will go beyond the Group stages of this year's Africa Cup of Nations tournament despite being placed in a tough pool.
The Zimbabwe senior men's national team were drawn in Group B alongside record winners Egypt, former champions South Africa and Angola, who reached the quarter finals in the last edition. Nees, who attended the draw ceremony in Morocco is looking forward to the three matches.
“Three teams from Cosafa. No secrets here, the teams know each other very well. A derby against rivals Bafana Bafana again, and a clash with a skilful Angola side who have a different playing style. Not to mention North African powerhouses Egypt, record champions and one of the tournament favourites, who will come to Morocco definitely with all their stars and their best team. In my opinion, It’s a very balanced, strong and competitive group," Nees said.
The Warriors will kick off with a match against Egypt and round off with Bafana Bafana.
"Our first match will be against Egypt in Aghadir, our second against Angola and the final group game against Bafana Bafana, both those matches in Marakesh, where we will be based for the tournament. We need to be up to the challenge straight from the beginning, but with good preparations we can meet the challenge. As any other team, we want to go to the second round. We respect our opponents, but we have all self-belief in our own strength and skills to achieve this objective," said Nees.
"The tournament will set new standards for an AFCON, I am sure, and the conditions and facilities will be quite fair and equal for all the teams.”
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