Draw blasts Zebras� group wide open
Mqondisi Dube | Thursday March 31, 2016 10:47
The deadlock in Kampala means the Zebras are only a point behind the two joint leaders who have six, with two rounds left in the qualifiers. The top team and the best-placed runners-up qualify for next year’s finals in Gabon.
The Zebras are keen to make another trip to Gabon after their first and only qualification in 2012.
The equation for Peter Butler’s charges is straight forward though daunting; they need to win their remaining two matches.
Uganda, who missed a chance to pull three points clear after being held by the Stallions, will make the trip to Francistown in June for what would be the Zebras’ campaign defining tie.
A loss would effectively end the Zebras’ interest in the qualifiers while a win would, depending on the outcome of the Burkina Faso and Comoros game, propel the local boys to the top of the standings and open the Gabon gates.
But there would still be a job to do away in Burkina Faso in September where the Zebras have to contend with an often hostile atmosphere.
If the Zebras do not make it as group winners, they would hope to squeeze through as the qualifiers’ best placed runners-up. But competition is tough as there are a number of teams with at least six points with two matches remaining. The danger comes from Group A where Liberia, Tunisia and Togo, Congo DR and Central Africa Republic, Benin, Mali, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Rwanda, Mauritius, Burundi and Mauritania who are also in contention for either a top or a runners-up spot.