BY SPORTSCAST WRITER
HARARE – Zimbabwe star midfielder Andy Rinomhota is eager to seal Africa Cup of Nations qualification with a game to spare when the Warriors take on Kenya in South African city Polokwane on Friday.
Unbeaten Zimbabwe will qualify for the 2025 Afcon finals in Morocco even if they draw against the Kenyans, before travelling to West Africa for their last Group J match with the already qualified Cameroon on Tuesday.
Cardiff City midfielder Rinomhota – one of Zimbabwe’s most outstanding players in the campaign – wants the task to be completed on Friday.
“To qualify is our main goal,” Rinomhota said on Thursday.
“We’ve done good work in previous camps to get in this position so we are just looking forward to finish the job against Kenya and qualify…make fans back home proud and have something to look forward to next year.”
Kenya still have a mathematical chance of qualifying if they convincingly beat Zimbabwe and hope that results in the other last round of qualifiers are in their favour.
But it’s a big ask, and the Warriors will be favourites on Friday to secure a ticket to Morocco end of 2025. The 27-year-old Rinomhota isn’t however underestimating the Harambee Stars.
“We’ve faced them before, they were difficult games so we know we can’t take things lightly… Everyone has the same goal, that is to reach the finals…for different goals. For me, it’s about wanting to progress myself and create opportunities for myself. The main one for all of us is to make our fans back home proud. We don’t just want to qualify, we want to be there to compete. We want to take it a step forward and get as far as we can.”
