BY SPORTSCAST WRITER
HARARE – Zimbabwe coach Michael Nees saw his team muscle its way to a 1-0 win over Namibia in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Johannesburg on Thursday, but the German gaffer reckons the result was more important than the performance.
The Zimbabweans were lethargic in their win to top Group J of the qualifiers, prompting Nees to defend his team’s approach to the game.
“The games wasn’t a beauty contest, it was what we anticipated,” Nees told reporters in the post-match press conference after Khama Billiat’s first-half penalty secured the win for the Warriors.
“The fun factor was taken out already because there were no spectators allowed. So we knew it would be a fight, not a beautify contest. In half time we said we had some technical issues, (so) we said we just want to win no matter how it looks.”
Namibia, homeless just like Zimbabwe, hosted the first of the two teams’ back-to-back qualifiers at Soweto’s Orlando Stadium on Thursday ahead of the return leg between the two sides on Monday.
The Namibian FA – wary of Zimbabwe’s support base in South Africa – decided to host in front of an empty stadium, citing supposed incapacity to provide adequate security as the reason behind the move.
Warriors coach Nees criticised the Namibians’ decision.
“It takes (away) the fun factor, the passion out of football,” Nees said.
“Footballers want to exhibit skills in front of a crowd, like a professional musician. Ask a musician how he feels if nobody comes to his concert, I don’t think he will be very happy. So footballers are no less the same, so we anticipated a very hard fighting team (in Namibia) which has spent a lot of time together and has spent time like a club team, and for that reason I’m very happy (with the result).”
Asked if he was concerned about his team’s uninspired performance, Nees replied: “Not really that worried, but you must see the circumstances. Today it’s Thursday, I had the full training with the whole squad…the rest of the squad you have to assemble because they come from around the world and it is catastrophic. I feel like a meeting coach than a football coach, and that was obvious today.”
