e” Masomere and his assistant Madinda Ndlovu, who pulled out the less effective Evans Gwekwerere and Obediah Tarumbwa for Simba Gate and Zimbabe in the 60th were all the Young Warriors needed to win the match.
The introduction of Zimbabe and Gata saw captain Vusi Nyoni, Justice Majabvi, Zephania Ngodzo and Peter Mubaiwa dictating pace in the congested Zimbabwe midfield.
But it was Ghana who settled first in 30th minute when Michael Helegbe rifled home from close range beating man of the match Tafadzwa Dube all systems out in goals for Zimbabwe after the ball took a deflection.
The Ghananians made some beautiful passes involving Douglas Nkurumah, Dan Ladi Sherrif and Francis Mantey.
The Zimbabwean 23 played second fiddle to Ghana in the first half but came in a rejuvenated side in the second half when Masomere brought in Zimbabe and Gata.
The two players combined quite well with captain Nyoni, the Mubaiwa twin brothers Peter and Patrick and Majabvi to give anxious moments to the west African nation each time they were in possession of the ball.
It came as no surprise when Gate beat two Ghana defenders and centred for the already kinetic Zimbabe, who unleashed a thunderbolt from the edge of the box beating Blankson all systems out.
Majabvi equalised for Zimbabwe in the 60th minute when he headed in a well-taken corner kick by captain Vusi Nyoni before Zimbabe silenced the marauding Ghananians with a cheeky volley that shook the roof of the nets.
The winning goal by Zimbabe saw hundreds of Zimbabwean border jumpers celebrating in large numbers, a move which attracted some South African police to start confronting the suspects.
After the match, Young Warriors head coach Masomere said his side showed composure and discipline. “We played as a team and we won. We are not much worried about the poor preparations because of short time but we concentrated with the work at hand.
Majabvi found the equalizing goal for the Young Warriors. Zimbabwe is taking on Mozambique in the next encounter at the same stadium while South Africa, who lost 2-1 to China, play Swaziland.
LINE-UPS: ZIMBABWE: T. Dube, D. Fourpence, V. Gweshe, E. Mzeku, Z. Ngodzo, V. Nyoni, J. Majabvi, P. Mubaiwa, O. Tarumbwa (S. Gate 60), P. Mubaiwa, E. Gwekwerere (J.
Zimbabe 60th). GHANA: K. Blankson, D. Nkurumah, A. Bobie, D. Asamoah, J. Khumalo, B. Mumuni, P. Antwi, F. Mantey, A. Asamaoh, K. Boakye (A. Amofah 62nd) – CAJ News