At their last two Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in 2004 (Tunisia) and 2006 (Egypt), Zimbabwe have not been able to get out of the group stage.
Returning to the continental show piece for the first time since their back to back appearances, Zimbabwe’s Willard Katsande wants to take the team past the group stages this time around in Gabon.
The coming days will see us putting in some hard work, because we all know we have a tough task in Gabon. We will not let anything to chance as we prepare.
Katsande said before giving his reasons. He compared to his side’s Group B opponents which include continental powerhouses Algeria, Senegal and Tunisia .
When we look at how our opponents are being treated as giants, we actually like it when people see us as underdogs. That is going to push us to the next round, because we have a point to prove.
The Warriors kickoff their campaign on 15 January, against Algeria in Franceville, before taking on Senegal four days later. They wind up their group matches, against Tunisia on 23 January in Libreville.
That is our target and it is achievable. We can do it and when we are in Gabon, we will not be looking much into the giant status of our opponents.
Out of their six matches at AFCON they have only managed two wins. They defeated Algeria 2-1 in their last group D game in Tunisia and beat Ghana by the same margin two years later in Egypt.
