Mamelodi Sundowns head coach and recently crowned African Coach of the Year Pitso Mosimane believes Zimbabwe could spring surprises at AFCON 2017

Zimbabwe is in a tough group B together with Algeria,Tunisia and Senegal but Mosimane believes the Warriors can get inspiration from Mamelodi Sundowns who conquered the continent against the odds.

‘I told Khama that with Sundowns, we too were never given a chance in our group, but we did it,Mosimane told the Sowetan.

“Zimbabwe can progress even as they are grouped with tough teams like Algeria, Tunisia and Senegal. These teams can easily cancel out each other. You just have to avoid being whipping boys he added.

Mosimane also gave his thoughts on the CAF African Player of the Year which saw Billiat being pipped by Onyango.

“Well, these things happen. Billiat was a big winner at the PSL awards and Onyango only got the goalkeeper award. On the continent they check a lot of factors like performance for the national team. Billiat didn’t play in World Cup qualifiers.

‘But in any case, it’s great to see a keeper win for a change. Strikers win these awards all the time.