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. . . Loga on dugout headache
By Ray Munyoro
Warriors coach Zdravko Logarusic admitted that his assistants ‘forced’ him to introduce Prince Dube in their 2-2 against Algeria at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Logarusic said he had another player in mind – Terrence Dzvukamanja – but had to bow to the pressure from his assistants Lloyd Chitembwe and Tonderai Ndiraya.
Dube came off the bench to rescue a point for Zimbabwe in dramatic fashion.Zimbabwe forced a 2-2 draw against the African champions to remain second on the standings of Group H of the 2022 AFCON qualifiers with two games to play.And reacting to Dube’s performance, the Croat said his deputies kept on encouraging him to introduce the former Highlanders marksman.
He was only introduced in the 81st minute to score an important goal with his first touch.
Logarusic admitted that he introduced Dube after pressure from his assistants which paid off at the end.“. . . when I was talking to my assistants they kept on saying put Prince on and he came in and scored at the right time and the right place.
“But I was debating between Prince and Terrence. It’s something that makes us happy and I think the result was fair,” said Logarusic.
Captain Knowledge Musona scored a beautiful free kick from angle in the first half to reduce the deficit after Algeria scored twice within four minutes.
An unmarked Andy Delort headed home in the 34th minute to give the visitors the lead before Riyad Mahrez exhibited individual brilliance to double the lead in the 38th minute.
Musona restored hope for Zimbabwe in the 43rd minute.Logarusic, who made four changes at half time, hailed his boys for the comeback.“It’s not easy to come back especially when you’re two goals down against the champions of Africa,” said Logarusic.
“The first goal was because of too much space but I’m sure going forward that Zimbabwe can score against any team in Africa. And today (Monday) they scored two goals against Algeria that means we can do it.”
Warriors are within reach of the 2022 Cameroon AFCON finals as they are left with two games to play.
They travel to Botswana before hosting Zambia in March next year.“Let us cool down a bit for now, we are excited and a bit tired but I think if we can produce this type of game against Botswana or Zambia we should reach the target,” he said. Nhau/Indaba
