RESILIENT WARRIORS FALL TO CAMEROON

Zimbabwe Warriors opened their Africa Nations Championship campaign with a gallant show despite losing 0-1 to host Cameroon on Saturday night.

Salomon Banga Bindjeme scored a overhead -kick in the 72nd minutes as Cameroon finally managed to breach the Warriors defence and register a slender 1-0 win in their opening Chan group A match.

The Indomitable Lions, who were playing in front of limited but voiceforous fans, dominated possession and could have scored more goals had it not been for the Warriors’ disciplined blackline and the heroic saves of goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda.

The Zimbabweans who are without competitive football for nearly a year now, struggled to create goal scoring chances as they were forced to play deep the entire 90 minutes.

Ultimately the Warriors were not able to hold on to the end as Banga scored from close range with a half volley after a free-kick into the box by Serge Andoulo beating the impressive Warriors goalie Ariel Sibanda who had a stellar performance.

It ended 1-0, but the Warriors will take confidence into their next encounter against Burkina Faso having managed to contein the host until late in the second half.

In another group A match played on Saturday, Mali beat Burkina Faso 1-0 to go level on points with Cameroon.