Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Robson Sharuko
30 May 2008
Conakry — Zimbabwe's road-weary Warriors flew into this chaotic and tense coastal city on the shores of the Atlantic, almost 24 hours after they left home, to begin yet another campaign to dine with the aristocrats of global football when the 2010 World Cup bandwagon explodes across the Limpopo in just two years' time.
A long three-legged transcontinental trip that took them to Johannesburg, Dakar in Senegal and finally into this rundown Guinean capital badly crying for a facelift, left the Warriors drained both physically and emotionally by the time they touched down here close to midday at home yesterday.
It was a trip full of drama with the Warriors delegation being told on arrival in Dakar -- shortly after midnight yesterday -- that their scheduled flight to Conakry was unlikely to take off because of unrest here in the Guinea capital torched by a rebellion by some soldiers demanding their outstanding salaries.
Immigration and security officials at the Leopold Senghor International Airport in Dakar advised the Warriors shortly after their arrival that the volatile political situation in Conakry had already forced the cancellation of all the day's flights scheduled for Guinea.
The Warriors were also informed that the Guinea national team, whom they are scheduled to play here on Sunday in the first match of a battle for places at the 2010 World Cup and Nations Cup finals, was also stranded in Dakar with no flights to take them to their homeland.
Apparently the Sylie Nationale -- as the Guinea national team is affectionately known by its fans here -- had been holding a training camp in France and were heading home for their showdown with the Warriors when they were caught in the drama unfolding in their homeland.
Flights coming in and out of Conakry had been suspended by the time the Sylie Nationale and the Warriors arrived in Dakar.
Security personnel at the airport even joked that the best way out of the crisis would be for Fifa to order the game between Guinea and Zimbabwe to be played on neutral soil in Dakar since both teams were now virtually stranded in the Senegalese capital.
As the news broke among the Warriors of the security concerns surrounding the final leg of their trip -- and the possibility that they could be stranded in Senegal for some days -- silence descended on the group as the reality of the situation confronting them began to sink.
Having already spent about 10 hours flying from home, the weary Warriors trooped into the transit lounge and before long the whole squad was asleep.
The break of dawn brought some good news with Air Senegal International officials advising the Zimbabwe delegation that they had been in contact with their counterparts in Conakry and passenger flights had been cleared to resume operations.
Still there was concern among some Warriors, who were worried that the political situation could deteriorate rapidly, either while they were already airborne or after their arrival here, and they could find themselves caught in a vicious battle they don't understand.
But having come this far to fight for the cause of their fatherland, the majority of the Warriors felt they could not turn back and the delegation boarded an Air Senegal Boeing 737-700 passenger jet for the one-hour flight down the coast to Conakry.
They arrived here to be welcomed by a sight they had all feared -- dozens of armed soldiers manning the airport.
Then there was the intense heat and humidity to contend with -- temperatures yesterday soared to more than 36 degrees Celsius.
Outside the airport were groups of locals who appeared oblivious of the political drama that has been unfolding in their country and their apparent relaxation appeared to cool the nerves of the Warriors.
The national team was then bundled into a small minibus which headed straight to their hotel -- the Mariador Palace -- right on the shores of the northern tip of the Atlantic Ocean in a downtown part of this city.
But if they thought that the worst was over now that they were in the comfort of their hotel, the Warriors were mistaken.
The delegation was again made to wait for more than two hours because their rooms were being cleaned.
Hotel director Almamy Saidou said the cancellation of all the flights on Wednesday meant that some of their guests did not check out as originally scheduled and this left them with a problem regarding the rooms.
Once the rooms had been sorted out, it was time for the delegation to check in.
Then there were other problems.
There were no television sets in the other rooms; the air-conditioning system wasn't working in the others; there were no blankets in the others; and some -- like the one given to the national teams' general manager Sharrif Mussa -- were simply so sub-standard it all made a mockery of the hotel's four-star status.
There were suggestions from the Warriors' travelling leadership that the team should check out of the hotel and find a better one but -- with concerns over the political situation in this country -- this idea was shot down.
So the Warriors checked into this hotel and had their first meal shortly after.
They were scheduled to have a training session late yesterday.
The Warriors kick-start a fresh campaign to banish the bitter memories of their failed campaign to qualify for the 2008 Nations Cup finals -- by making it to Angola in two years' time -- when they take on Guinea here on Sunday.
It's the first match in a qualifying campaign, which is also being used for the 2010 World Cup finals, that will also see the Warriors taking on the Brave Warriors of Namibia and the Harambee Stars of Kenya.
The realistic chance is on the Warriors bouncing back at the Nations Cup showcase in Angola but the nation also shares the bigger dream of a maiden appearance at the World Cup finals -- especially now that the tournament is being held across the border in South Africa.
Every year, the Warriors and their fans have dreamt of big things like qualifying for the World Cup finals even though most of those dreams have turned into nothing more than routine nightmares after each qualifying campaign.
Their maiden appearance at the 2004 Nations Cup finals raised hopes for the team and when they also qualified for the subsequent showcase in Egypt two years later, the nation began to believe that they were now part of the big boys.
But when reality struck, it was a bitter pill to swallow and the Warriors' failure to qualify for the 2008 Nations Cup finals in Ghana was the stuff that nightmares are made of and was, once again, a painful remainder of our shortcomings on the big stage.
And when Morocco, who conquered us for a place in Ghana, were knocked out of the first round, we began to understand that we were probably not as good as we imagined. It was time for some changes.
In came Brazilian coach Valinhos, who will take charge of his first Nations Cup qualifier as head coach of an African nation on Sunday.
Two years ago it started -- and probably ended -- on the first hurdle with that defeat in Blantyre at the hands of Malawi. Guinea are a tougher side compared to Malawi and they will give the Warriors a tough test in their humid conditions on Sunday.
Valinhos has a rough idea of life in the jungles of African football having played the assistant coach's role -- ironically with Morocco -- in the past.
The Boeing 737-700 passenger jet that took the Warriors on the final leg of their trip into Conakry belongs to Air Senegal and is part of the Royal Air Morocco Group.
It was a smooth flight into the unknown and Valinhos -- with his previous Moroccan connections -- will be hoping that the story that will unfold on Sunday will be just as good as that flight.
All that we can do as a nation -- just like the Warriors at the international airport in Dakar yesterday -- is to wait and hope that this time it will be a better take-off than what happened in Blantyre.
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