Warriors stand-in coach Rahman Gumbo said he was gutted by the defeat to Zambia in the Cosafa Cup semi-finals as they wanted to retain the cup for the third consecutive time.

Zimbabwe made eight changes to the team that beat Comoros in the quarterfinals, with only Thabani Kamusoko, Tendayi Darikwa and Alec Mudimu keeping their places in the starting XI.

The Warriors, however, failed to find the target in regulation with the man of the match, Elvis Chipezeze saving a penalty in the first half in his debut for the Warriors.

“We brought our full strength squad here because we had two objectives, one to retain the cup and the other to prepare for the Africa Cup of Nations,” said Gumbo.

“In this game, we made a lot of changes because we want to try new combinations as we have focus also on the Africa Cup of Nations. It’s sad that we failed to win this one when we really wanted to and congratulations to Zambia.

“Matches between Zimbabwe and Zambia have never been easy, we dominated them in the past and they really wanted revenge.”

Zimbabwe dominated position but had a few chances to crack at goal as Zambia sat back and soaked the pressure for the better part of the game, waiting to catch their opponents on counter attacks.

In the shootout, Khama Billiat and Admiral Muskwe failed to convert for the Warriors while Tendayi Darikwa