NEW Warriors coach Michael Nees may have been left satisfied with his players' performance against bogey side Kenya last Friday to kick-start their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group J qualifying campaign, but has stressed the mammoth task in the clash against Cameroon on Tuesday.
The 57-year-old German took charge of his first game in Kenya's adopted home ground at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda.
The game started encouragingly for the visiting team with the returning Khama Billiat creating decent chances for Walter Musona, Jordan Zemura, Prince Dube and Marshall Munetsi, but the team's second half showing exposed the Warriors' many frailties.
Defensively, they looked chaotic at times with the whole team appearing to be running out of steam in the second half and were forced to soak a lot of pressure.
Nees was at least pleased with his men's defensive resilience as they stood up to the hosts' threats, but he knows they will have to double or even triple their efforts to stand a chance of upsetting Cameroon on Tuesday.
Zimbabwe have also been forced to adopt the majestic Kampala stadium to host the Indomitable Lions because the country doesn't have a Caf certified stadium.
"We have to adjust because Cameroon is definitely a stronger team than Kenya," Nees reckoned.
"First of all, we have to recover physically because some players went through their limits against Kenya. For sure, we will have to improve a few things against Cameroon. They are a different calibre if they bring their best team, there is no doubt about that."
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Nees, who complained of limited training time heading into the last game, believes the three-day window period between the Kenya clash and Tuesday gives him adequate time to plot Cameroon's downfall.
"We had only two sessions with the whole squad and there was no other possible way they could have performed better than they did. I didn't tell them everything because the danger is that I was going to overload the players and they forget everything. Now we have three days to prepare. We have to recover, but it gives us more time together as a group. Lots of that training will be off pitch, in the conference room. Of course a real training will also take place. We need to analyze, to see things that the players can rectify with instructions and also improve their good points," Nees said.
His team had a light recovery session yesterday morning, minus defender Munashe Garananga who complained of an ankle irritation.
The good news for the Warriors ahead of the match is that Cameroon's camp is in turmoil amid reports of clashes between the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), coach Marc Brys, and the west African nation's sport ministry.
It took Fifa and the country's prime minister, Joseph Ngute, to calm tensions and broker a temporary ceasefire to allow the five-time African champions to honour their opening Afcon Group J match against Namibia, which was set for Garoua yesterday.
The warring parties were at loggerheads over selection of the squad, the venue of the training camp and where yesterday's match was to be held, resulting in a split team and Fecafoot initially placing the under-20 team on standby to face Namibia.
Furthermore, Fecafoot president Samuel Eto'o was reportedly poised to replace head coach Marc Brys who the association has since taken legal action against for his refusal to hand over player's passports to the team manager.
A squad of 24 players was called up for the two qualifiers with Aboubakar headlining the list which also boasts of Napoli star Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, Mbeumo of Brentford, Kolo Ekambi, Christian Bassogog and Carlos Baleba of Brighton and Hove Albion.
