A defiant Rahman Gumbo insists the Warriors’ defeat in Burundi was just a minor setback and they will overturn their deficit and advance to the next stage of the 2013 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The FC Platinum coach is also ready to extend his dance with the senior national team and will accept an offer to take charge of the team against Burundi in the return leg. Gumbo saw his dream of a storming comeback wrecked in Bujumbura when the Swallows stole a late winner that gave them a first round, first leg 2-1 advantage on Wednesday.

It was the veteran coach’s reunion with the Warriors’ dressing room after an eight-year absence during which his club coaching career took him to Malawi and Botswana where he won Premiership titles with MTL Wanderers and Mochudi Centre Chiefs respectively.

Gumbo accepted a late call from Zifa for a one-off dance with the Warriors and was tasked with assembling a new squad to begin the 2013 campaign after the association had suspended over 80 players, coaches and officials over the Asiagate scam.

The fact that the Warriors’ first leg qualifier fell on a midweek date reserved for Fifa international friendlies did not help Gumbo’s cause either.He was forced to train at home with a depleted squad with the foreign-based contingent being holed up at their bases because of varying club commitments.

That CAPS United right back Tapiwa Kumbuyani was the only local player in the starting XI at the Prince Louis Stadium in Bujumbura put into perspective the challenges that Gumbo and his technical crew had in preparing the game with players who never made the trip. In fact, Kumbuyani only played because first choice right back Noel Kaseke did not make the trip to Bujumbura.

Burundi took a slender advantage when goals by Rodi Mavugo and skipper Valerie Nahayo in the 46th and 89th minutes gave them a win that was celebrated in Bujumbura as if they had already qualified.

Chief striker Knowledge Musona, playing less than four hours after touching down at Bujumbura International Airport, had brought the Warriors level in the 58th minute.

But Gumbo, touched “by the commitment and fighting spirit’’ shown by his side, revealed that he would be available to take charge of the Warriors again when they host the Swallows in the return leg in Harare on June 3.

The FC Platinum coach however, said he would wait for Zifa’s guidance, adding that he could also be available to offer technical advice to the man the soccer mother body would direct to take charge of the Warriors’ next assignment.

“I have to say that I am proud of these players. They came at short notice and did a good job and I think with a longer time together they can go far. This is the first time I have coached a new team for just two days and they go on to give a five-star performance. As you can see we had players still coming into camp as late as just before the match.

“I have seen this Burundi team, they are a young side that is still building and I would recommend that whoever takes over for the game in Harare must retain the bulk of this team. Of course I have my job at FC Platinum but if Zifa do ask me to continue for the return leg I will do it for my country.

“These boys fought for their country well in Burundi and we must not let them down as a nation. If they (Zifa) decide on someone else I will still be available to give him tips because I am confident that Burundi can be beaten in the second leg, I have seen how they play,’’ Gumbo said.

Gumbo will now await his verdict from Zifa board member competitions Benedict Moyo, who has been tasked by the association’s leadership to be in charge of all national teams.

Zifa would also need to urgently address the way the team is administered after their controversial decision to replace the vastly-experienced team manager Shariff Mussa with Nyika Chifamba backfired terribly on them.

Mussa was surprisingly dropped from the technical team despite the fact that the Harare businessman was not implicated in the Asiagate report that was used to suspend players, coaches and administrators from the Burundi game.

But the trip to Bujumbura and the issues related to general player welfare proved that there is no substitute for experience after virtually all the foreign-based players, who had been called for this game, complained bitterly about how their travel arrangements had been bungled.

The Warriors also left Burundi in batches yesterday with the bulk of the foreign legion staying behind for another day after it became complicated for all of them to connect from Bujumbura on the same day.

Others such as Kaseke and Dickson Choto blamed their absence from the game on the way the letters of request from their clubs had been handled and poor communication with the team manager.

But for all the chaos that characterised the players’ travel and welfare, Musona, who only joined his teammates while they were in their pre-match team talk, refused to concede that Burundi could knock the Warriors out of contention for a place at next year’s finals in South Africa.

The TSG Hoffenheim striker, a popular figure with the Burundi fans who closely followed his exploits in South African football where Nahayo was his teammate at Kaizer Chiefs, believes they would be better prepared for the return leg as most of the professionals would be back home for the European off-season break.

“I think we had a good game. It’s just that we missed too many chances in the second half and if you miss such chances like we did the opponents will punish you and that is what happened to us. But I think in Zimbabwe we will punish them . . . we can even score four or five goals,’’ Musona said.

The former Kaizer Chiefs man, whose goals have often carried the Warriors since he became their chief striker, also spoke of the problems he encountered with having to play without any rest.

“I had to fight through the 90 minutes but it was not easy. My legs were heavy in the first half but I think I still managed as a strong player and it was better in the second half.

“I think we have to do a little bit more in terms of our preparations as a team when we camp for the second leg so that we can train together for longer. I am sure the fact that we will be back home for the off-season break will also help the situation . . . I think we have a good team considering that some of our players were not here. Hopefully some of them will be back by the time we play the next match,’’ Musona said. Zifa have since indicated that the Justice Ebrahim Independent committee that was tasked with bringing the Asiagate chapter to a close would have completed their process of clearing all the individuals, fingered in the report who have no cases to answer, by the time the Warriors assemble for their June 3 assignment.