BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
WARRIORS captain Knowledge Musona believes the current crop of players have the capacity to qualify the country for the 2022 Qatar World Cup ahead of the first Group G match against South Africa.
Zimbabwe host neighbours South Africa at the National Sports Stadium on September 3 to kick start their qualifying campaign for a place at the premier global football showpiece, in a group that also includes Ghana and Ethiopia.
The team will also travel to Ethiopia four days later.
Musona says the team will be looking to have a flying start in the qualifiers, which would set the tone for the rest of the competition.
“We have a good team and I think we have the potential to win every game. Our team is good, but it all begins with the first game because it sets the tone for the other coming games. If we start strong I think we can also finish strong,” Musona told Standardsport in an exclusive interview from his Saudi Arabia base yesterday.
“I think we have the potential and quality but we will see in the next two games. Those games will determine how far we are going to go in the group up to the sixth game. As I always say we always focus on one game at a time and try to collect maximum points.
“We are ready for it and it starts against South Africa and then we look at the game against Ethiopia. We have the potential to go on and qualify for the World Cup,” he added.
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The Zimbabwe captain also welcomed the Afcon finals draw, which pitted the country in group B alongside 2019 finalists Senegal as well as Guinea and Malawi.
Musona played a pivotal role for the Warriors during the qualification campaign for the rescheduled Afcon tournament and will be aiming to lead his charges from the front in what will be his third appearance at the continental showpiece.
Zimbabwe will play their first match against Africa’s top ranked team Senegal at the Stade Omnisports De Bafoussam on January 10.
“The draw is okay. We are in a group, which has good teams and we are playing the first game against Senegal. It will give us good motivation to play the most difficult game in the group and try to perform to the best of our abilities so that we can see where we are also for the next two games,” he said.
“I think we have a chance to go through to the next stage, but everyone in the group also wants the same thing. Our target now is to try and pass the group stages because we haven’t managed to do that since we have been to Afcon. We will definitely give it our best shot.
Musona is expected to headline the Warriors squad which is expected to be announced this week.
