Zimbabwe registered their first victory at the 2024 COSAFA Cup after edging Comoros in the Group B opener played on Thursday afternoon.
The tournament is being held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Michael Tapera scored the solitary goal in the second period after a cagey opening half.
The national team had a few threatening opportunities in the first half despite dominating the possession.
They set an early pace with Takunda Benhura’s second-minute effort getting blocked.
The Ngezi Platinum man created another opportunity on the quarter hour mark, but again, couldn’t bring any trouble to the Comoros goalkeeper.
On the other end, the Islanders, relied mostly on counter attacks but also lacked precision in the final third.
Both sides were tied at 0-0 at the end of the first half.
In the second half, Benhura had an early chance but failed to connect the ball properly and his header went wide.
Tapera, who also struggled to come up with threatening efforts in the previous moments, finally got it right and scored in the 54th minute to put the Warriors ahead.
The Manica Diamonds forward flicked home with his right foot a cross from energetic Tinotenda Meke.
Comoros tried to respond and had Kassim Hadji’s overhead kick on the hour saved by Warriors goalkeeper Raphael Pitisi.
Zimbabwe quickly switched the play to the other end, and Malvin Hativagoni’s ambitious long range on minute 65 almost found the back of the net but was superbly saved by the keeper.
Goalmouth incidents became few and far apart in the remainder of the game as Zimbabwe managed to preserve their lead and a victory.
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