Warriors given striking chance at South Africa World Cup 2010

By Henry Makiwa
26 November 2007

Chances are bright for the national soccer team to progress to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after they were placed in a favourable qualifying group on Sunday.

At a draw for the preliminary rounds conducted in Durban, South Africa, Zimbabwe was drawn in Group Two where they were pitted against group seeds Guinea and Southern African rivals, Namibia and Kenya. Captain Benjani Mwaruwari and his troop of Warriors will probably heave a sigh of relief that they have avoided powerhouses such as Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast.

The Warriors however have the undesirable identity of being perennial underachievers. They recently failed to make it to the 2008 Africa Nations Cup finals in Ghana following a forgettable campaign in which they only won once over minnows Malawi at home.

Ranked 24th on the continent, Zimbabwe may find Guinea as the biggest stumbling block in their way. The West Africans, powered by France-based star Captain Pascal Feindouno, boast a stable squad with most of their players in European leagues. Only the reserve keeper, Naby Diarso plies his trade at home with Guinean side, Satellite Football club.

The coach-less Warriors face tricky ties to Kenya and the fast improving Namibia, who recently made it to Ghana 2008. New stars such as the overlooked Joseph Ngwenya of Houston Dynamo in America, and the Belgium-based midfielder duo of Honour Gombami and Cephas Chimedza are expected to form the nucleus of a new-look team.

According to a format designed by world soccer governing body Fifa, each of the group winners and the eight best runners up will advance to a second qualification round where they would be put into five groups of four.

Preliminary round qualification games have already begun as nations across the world fight for 31 places at the World Cup. South Africa takes up the other spot automatically as tournament hosts.