Loga bemoans preps

WARRIORS coach Zdravko Logarušić is disappointed that his team lost the opening match of the African Nations Championships (Chan) against hosts Cameroon on Saturday, but appreciates their effort under the circumstances.

Zimbabwe barely prepared for this tournament because of coronavirus, but battled hard and long in front of a crowd that included Fifa president Gianni Infantino, Caf's new honorary president Issa Hayatou “THE

and Cameroon's Prime Minister Joseph Ngute at the Amadou Ahidjo Stadium, before falling to a Salomon Banga match-winner 18 minutes before time.

The defeat stretches their winless streak in the first match of a Chan tournament to six attempts.

Unlike in the previous editions, this defeat was largely expected considering the chaotic manner in which the team prepared coming into the tournament.

They held a handful of training sessions in the run up to their trip after a COVID-19 outbreak in camp forced suspension of preparations.

“The game was very difficult because it was the first game (of the tournament) and we were also playing the hosts. When you play the hosts in a tournament there are a lot of things that determine the result, not just the performance,” Logarušić said.

The Croat was forced to pick players who had not played competitive football in over a year after last season’s local Premier League was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Then as the team was beginning to intensify their preparations, a bout of the deadly virus hit their camp, affecting nine players and six officials resulting in discontinuation of training.

“From our squad only eight players completed 10 sessions which translate to only 20 hours of preparation in a year. The rest of the players had less than five hours of proper training so this is the situation that we have.”

As a result, Logarušić said: “The players were failing basic things, like missing passes, failing to get into spaces, failing to dribble and they could not shoot. They were missing so many things because by now they should have been sharp from playing league games and training sessions at their clubs. You could see the players didn’t have a good connection between the heart, mind and the legs.”

There was a hint of an offside and a handball in the build-up to Cameroon’s goal, but the coach refused to dwell much on that, choosing to focus on the positives and the battles ahead.

“We tried the best we could do under the circumstances and the result was even close to a draw so it’s ok. Defensively we played very well and we will try to refresh our team with new players for the next games. We still have two games to go so we still have a chance. Let’s focus on the two games.”

“The goal we conceded was even an offside and second there was a hand ball, but it is part of the game. We move on. It’s not so bad, it was a good starting point. For some of the players it was their first time to play at a big tournament so we will learn from the mistakes and refresh things for the second and third game. We will try our best not to disappoint.”

There was even more bad news in the Warriors camp before the match after two defenders Qadr Amini and Andrew Mbeba failed medical tests that were carried out by Caf on the eve of the match.

Amini failed an MRI cardiac test while Mbeba suffered from dehydration. They are both expected to be fit for the next match.

Logarušić and his two assistants Lloyd Chitembwe and Tonderai Ndiraya remained behind after the game to watch the other group A match between Mali and Burkina Faso.

The former won the match 1-0 to go joint top of the group with Cameroon, whom they meet on Wednesday with the Warriors meeting the Burkinabe in the day's other game.

Logarušić conceded that their group opponents are sharper and better prepared.

“You can see from how they play that they have leagues running in their countries and they had proper preparations. It would be very difficult against them.”

The top two teams in the group proceed to the quarterfinals of the tournament for players based in their domestic league.

Zimbabwe are looking to progress beyond the group stages of the tournament for the second time. The only other time when they progressed was in 2014 when they went all the way to finish fourth.

game was very difficult because it was the first game (of the tournament) and we were also playing the hosts. When you play the hosts in a tournament there are a lot of things that determine the result, not just the performance.”