Wolverhampton Wanderers’ young forward Tawanda Chirewa is targeting an improved show as he angles for his second cap for Zimbabwe when they take on South Africa in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.
Chirewa put on a solid display on his debut in last Friday’s embarrassing 2 – 0 defeat to Lesotho at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg.
The loss saw Zimbabwe sink to the bottom of the Group C standings with Lesotho shooting to the top, in a race which also includes Nigeria, Rwanda and Benin.
“It was a bitter sweet debut I would say but the result wasn’t anything that we wanted or the staff wanted or fans wanted. But it was good to go out there and represent my country and try to show what I can do,” the 20 year old star said.
“It wasn’t my best performance I have been off season for two weeks and I have been here for five days so fitness and sharpness wasn’t as it would be in season. I have definitely improved since Friday and I can assure the fans, the players and everything that on Tuesday I will have a much better performance.
“It was our first time playing together ( against Lesotho) and so it takes a while for teams to adjust at any level. I would say it was good to create as much as we did. We created a lot of chances against Lesotho we didn’t put them away but on Tuesday we will definitely put chances away, try and get the result we need to get.
“Against South Africa people will definitely say that they are favourites. They have got a lot of good players and they did well at Afcon but people cannot forget that this is still Zimbabwe. We have got a lot of players playing in Europe , a lot of top players and if we get it right on Tuesday they won’t be able to handle us.
“We will get a result. I am 100% confident in our team with the players we have nothing is impossible,” he added.
South Africa managed to get a point against Nigeria on Friday and coach Hugo Broos has demanded nothing short of three points from his troops.
Zimbabwe on the other hand is sweating on the availability of full back Devine Lunga who suffered a knock on his ankle against Lesotho.
Ngezi Platinum Stars defensive midfielder Richard Hachiro has also joined the team in Bloemfontein as a replacement for the injured Brandon Galloway.
Andrew Mbeba who started at right back on Friday is suspended after earning a yellow card.