When the draw for the final tournament of Orange African Nations Championship was made last year not many would have picked out a Zimbabwe versus Libya semi-final. Fast forward to Wednesday 29th January and the two unfamiliar sides clash in the first of CHAN semi-finals to be played at Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium.
The Mediterranean Knights of Libya performed a Houdini-like act to salvage a last minute draw against Congo Brazzaville and in the process reach the semis. The Warriors of Zimbabwe put the sword much fancied Malians in the quarter-final paving way for the light-weight contest of the two semis.
The fact that very few expected Libya and Zimbabwe to get this far was not lost on Libya’s coach, Spaniard Javier Clemente who told Cafonline.com ahead of the match, “ I put this match at an even kneel with both sides having 50-50 chances of making it to the final. Any team that gets this far in a tournament has done well and deserves to be respected. Libya will not take Zimbabwe lightly and l know the same applies to Zimbabwe, therefore it is likely to be a competitive match with hopefully some entertaining football”. Said Clemente.
The Spaniard lamented the three days his side has had between quarter and semifinals, “There isn’t enough time in my opinion and if you add travelling time from Polokwane to Bloemfontein then our opponents, Zimbabwe who played their last match on Saturday gain an extra day of rest. That however does not take away anything from our mission which is to beat Zimbabwe and reach the final” said Clemente.
Warriors coach, Ian Gorowa agreed that the scenario that has two sides who were not expected to get this far may just have the right ingredients for a thrilling and competitive match,”Having come this far we feel that we may as well go all the way and every team at this stage will believe they can go on and win the ultimate prize. This team is hungry for success and keen to lighten up the country’s mood back in Zimbabwe. It has been a long time since Zimbabwean football was at this level of competition and making waves among the top sides on the continent so the feel good factor is certainly in abundance.
We are in an open match which either side can win and l hope it will be us celebrating come the end of the match on Wednesday” concluded Gorowa.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) News
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