The Confederation of African football paired the small southern African nation against southern African counterparts Angola for the finals to be held in South Africa in January.
The Warriors though should not take their opponents lightly and Zimbabwe have to prepare fully if they are to qualify for the Nations Cup finals for the first time in six year.
Zimbabwe were last at the Nations Cup in Tunisia in 2006 under the coaching guidance of Charles Mhlauri at the tournament where legendary Peter Ndlovu announced his retirement from international football.
The draw was conducted involving two sets of teams that of Pot A of the seeded teams where most of the heavyweights were and Pot B where most of the qualifiers were placed.
In fact, Zimbabwe are happy that they have at least avoided the heavyweights of African football the top ranked Ivory Coast, the Black Stars of Ghana, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon as well as north Africa’s Tunisia and Morocco.
Zimbabwe and Angola will lock horns first on the weekend of September 7 to 9 then on the weekend of 12 to 14 October with the winner of the two legged matches qualifying for South Africa.
Zambia who are the defending champions will play Uganda as they seek to keep the trophy in southern Africa and closer at home.
The most talked about pairing was that of bitter rivals and their neighbours, the Ivory Coast who are meeting Senegal.
The Nations Cup finals will be held from January 19 to February 10.
Post published in: Football