Zim secure passage into last 8

Zimbabwe secured their passage into quarter-finals of the African Nations Championship when they eliminated Burkina Faso with a 1-0 victory at Athlone Stadium last night.

The Warriors found the solitary goal of the match through vice-captain Masimba Mambare who headed home in the 56th minute from a Milton Ncube cross from the left.

Zimbabwe who had previously drawn 0-0 with Morocco and Uganda will now face Group A winners Mali in the quarter-finals at Cape Town Stadium.

With Morocco beating Uganda 3-1 in the other Group B match the Warriors needed an outright win to qualify.

And after missing a number of chances through Simbarashe Sithole of How Mine, Charles Sibanda, and Peter Moyo, the Warriors who enjoyed the support of a vociferous crowd finally got it right after some sustained pressure when Mambare found the target.

Zimbabwe also had three other good chances late on to add to their tally but Moyo and Kuda Mahachi either found Burkina Faso goalkeeper Mohamed Kabore on guard or shot wide.

After failing to win in their first two games which ended in 0-0 draws against Morocco and Uganda Zimbabwe rang some changes to their team with coach Ian Gorowa giving a start to two players – Peter Moyo and Simbarashe Sithole who had previously not seen any action.

The Zimbabwe coach also decided to start with Dynamos midfielder Mambare and Charles Sibanda of FC Platinum who had both been introduced as second half substitutes against the Cranes of Uganda.

The quartet replaced the FC Platinum pair of Donald Ngoma and Ali Sadiki and Tawanda Muparati and Simba Sithole (both Dynamos) and Gorowa felt the changes had brought more urgency in Zimbabwe’s attack.

Confederation of African Football (CAF) News