Zimbabwe captain Knowledge Musona says the team has put the disappointment of a narrow loss to Egypt behind them and are now firmly focused on their two remaining group clashes as they look to fight their way out of the group stages for the first time.
Zimbabwe opened their Africa Cup of Nations campaign on Friday night in Cairo with a 0-1 loss to hosts Egypt.
Mahmoud Trézéguet made the difference scoring the only goal for the hosts just before half time.
Egypt created few openings against a disciplined Zimbabwe side, but Mohamed Salah found a brick-wall in Zimbabwe keeper Edmore Sibanda who pulled off some fine saves.
Sibanda was forced off in the 80th minute after an injury and was replaced by Elvis Chipezeze.
And Musona believes the southern African nation still has everything to play for ahead of group clashes against DR Congo and Uganda.
“WARRIORS NEVER GIVE UP!!We keep going until its right,” Musona wrote on his twitter account.
His call was echoed by Khama Billiat who insisted “We don’t lose HOPE, we LEARN and MOVE 4ward….#InGodWeTrust.”
The pair spoke after cagey encounter with the Pharoahs which with a bit of sharpness up front the Warriors could have pulled off a suprise.
Egypt coach Javier Aguirre thought his side was poor and not at their best to the point of being thankful for the slim result.
“I’m not 100 percent satisfied with the performance, especially in the second half after our form dropped,” Egypt coach Javier Aguirre told the post-match news conference.
“We were exhausted but I’m not worried, it’s only the first match. The only negative thing I saw was the gaps in our midfield. Zimbabwe’s pace moves caused us some problems. We still wasted some goal-scoring chances but we will work on correcting our mistakes.”
The Pharaohs with three points now lead Group A. Zimbabwe fall to last place. This year’s tournament is the biggest Africa Cup of Nations ever with 24 teams.