The Warriors might be out of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers but there are some positives to be drawn from the disastrous campaign.
One, being, Jonah Fabisch debutted for the senior warriors side yesterday, Sunday 14 November, in the World Cup 2022 qualifiers match against Ethiopia which ended in a one-one draw. Zimbabwe was playing at home, at the National Sports Stadium. Winger, Kudakwashe Mahachi was on target for the Zimbabwe Warriors, while Ethiopia equalized through Aboubakir later in the match.
Jonah is son to legendary Zimbabwe Warriors Coach, Reinhard Fabisch, and soccer circles in the country had long waited for his national team debut.
Fabisch proved he’s a worthy call in the long term for the national team and he has been ‘generally’ praised for his perfomance in the first appearance.
Fabisch played for at least 35-minutes in the match, as he was introduced in the 55th-minute by warriors head coach Norman Mapeza.
In the match, he made a couple of good passes, and also fought well to recover the ball from the opposition five times and notably, made good passes to the wingers.
Had the, ‘indecisive’, Scotland based David Moyo managed to finish on one of his perfect passes, Fabisch might have ended the game with an assisted, and likely inspired win for the Warriors.
The 20 year old who plays for Germany Regionalliga side Hamburger SV has been included in the squad to play the remaining ‘Group G’ matches against South Africa and Ethiopia, in the long term plans of interim coach, Mapeza, who is, in his words, ‘building the team for the future’, part of it is rooting out veteran players bringing in younger ones. Fabisch was benched in the game against South Africa and only got his first ever chance to play for the national team yesterday and proved that the future is bright for the warriors.
The Warriors Coach, Norman Mapeza, spoke on the introduction of youngster into Zimbabwe’s senior team,“I am gradually introducing these youngsters into the team. We obviously had to give him (Fabisch) a chance. He is committed and very well focused. He is also a good footballer and has a lot in terms of potential .”
“He gave us a good shift. He is a fighter and he hardly loses the ball. But, his introduction should be gradual. We had to give him some minutes and he showed what he is capable of doing. He can become a top player for us in the future. You guys saw him and it’s up to you to judge. He has the potential and we can bank on him. But what is important is the process, which should be gradual,”said Mapeza.
Jonah Fabisch might be called into the Warriors squad that will go for the AFCON 2022 Finals in Cameroon next year in January, given that the coach is impressed with his play.
However, Fabisch was underwhelmed by his debut match for the Warriors since the team failed to win the match, although he liked his performance. Dropping off points is something which is very disappointing especially at home. “We were looking at winning this final match against Ethiopia to try and get the confidence we need going forward. We need to win to restore our pride as a nation. But as a player, I am happy with how I performed although I feel I should have done a lot better in some of the aspects of the game. I am still learning and am grateful to the coach for showing faith in me. I hope to keep on learning in the team going forward,” said Jonah Fabisch.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Warriors are out of the Quatar World Cup 2022 qualifying phases for Africa as the team failed to acquire adequate points to progress to the last round of the qualification, which is made up of ten teams that came out on top in their groups. Ghana beat South Africa 1 – 0 through a controversial penalty to come out on top of group G with 13 points.
Source: Herald ZW
Picture: News Pindula