Zimbabwe Under-17 coach Thulani Sibanda has expressed disappointment over the limited time he had to prepare his team for the 2025 COSAFA Under-17 Championship, after the Young Warriors were eliminated from the competition on Monday.
Zimbabwe bowed out in the group stages after collecting just one point from three matches, missing out on a place in the semifinals and ultimately crashing out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) U17 Qualifiers.
Reflecting on the campaign, Sibanda said the short preparation window had a significant impact on his ability to properly assess and integrate players.
“In football, there are players that are introverts and others who are extroverts,” he said.
“Introverts are players that will take time to express themselves. If you have a longer time to select players, you can see all of them. But if the time is short, you will only see the extroverts.”
The Young Warriors lost 3-2 to Comoros in their final Group A match, having earlier drawn with Eswatini and suffered defeat to Mozambique.
Soccer24