The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) and the Warriors’ head coach Michael Nees have confirmed that their return match against Harambee Stars in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers will be played in Polokwane, South Africa.Zimbabwe have been hosting their games out of the country just like Kenya due to the unavailability of FIFA Standard-approved stadia.The Warriors have posted back-to-back wins against Namibia at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg while picking a point at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda against Kenya.##NAJAVA_MECA_8467012##Zimbabwe, who now need at least a draw to qualify for the AFCON finals, are second in the group with eight points, two less than the Indomitable Lions, Kenya are third with four points and Namibia is last without a point.In an interview with Yvonne Mangunda on the Ollah 7 Podcast, the German gaffer confirmed that they have opted to host Kenya in Polokwane as opposed to Johannesburg where they enjoyed huge support from Zimbabweans based in Johannesburg and surrounding areas.“Basically, we have two shots (playing Kenya and Cameroon) but we will take them one by one. We asked ourselves, what we could do better to be able to perform well against these teams. In our last game, we played Namibia in Johannesburg. (Orlando Stadium).Gor Mahia coach reportedly assaulted as chaos erupt after Murang’a Seal draw [VIDEO]We said, look, training there was very difficult but the hotel was very good. Johannesburg is a hub, you cannot come at the last minute. Training pitches are always booked, they are overused. I can say there were about three teams using the same pitch for training. There were even about five games for Orlando Pirates at their stadium and we got worried about the improvement of the pitch,” said Nees.##NAJAVA_MECA_8467022##Nees added that Polokwane was good for security purposes and they will be targeting using either Peter Mokaba Stadium or Magazyn Stadium.He added: “We saw the need to improve on those areas and our conditions. Orlando Stadium was good when we played that Friday (against Namibia in the first leg). For every training, we needed a police escort and we could spend more time on the bus. We asked ourselves how we can improve on that. We looked around for a Plan B, and we asked how Polokwane is? We inquired, and Polokwane has one of the best pitches in South Africa.”Gor Mahia surrender two-goal lead after stoppage time goal from Murang’a SealKenya will travel to South Africa before travelling back home for the Namibia clash.
