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Tadious Manyepo

Sports Reporter

WARRIORS coach Zdravko Logarusic says he would have wanted all his players to be available for selection but those he will pick for tonight’s CHAN football tie against Burkina Faso at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde, Cameroon, should carry his day.

The match kicks-off at 9pm.

Zimbabwe, just like their opponents, need an outright win to retain their chances of advancing to the quarter-finals, having lost their opening encounter against Cameroon on Saturday night.

Burkina Faso, on the other hand, also fell to Mali in their own duel leaving both teams without a point going into the second round fixtures. But, it is the Warriors who go into this life and death encounter carrying a huge limp with five of their players ruled out due to injuries and ill health.

The midfield pair of Ronald Chitiyo and Richard Hachiro are nursing injuries.

They both started and gave a good account of themselves in the opening match against Cameroon. On the other hand, the trio of defenders Qadr Amini and Andrew Mbeba as well as striker Thomas Chideu are not feeling well.  Logarusic has lamented the setback but reckons what is crucial at this juncture is to cultivate a positive mentality in those available for the Burkina Faso tie.

“It’s a sad situation we find ourselves in. The ideal situation is to have all your players available for selection but well, this is where we are. We were always going to be vulnerable given where we are coming from,” he said.

“I have always said we are going to this tournament carrying a huge burden. The players last trained competitively over eight months ago and what happens when you do not play regularly is you become vulnerable to injuries.

“We were always going to encounter this. We have casualties in the ward and we have to shuffle our cards again for the match against Burkina Faso.  “We would have wanted to make tactical changes not injury forced ones from the team which did duty against Cameroon.  “Then others are not feeling well and it’s quite a difficult situation we find ourselves in.”

Logarusic said the players who will be picked to do duty in the Burkina Faso tie should rise to the occasion.

“With a little bit of luck maybe we should have come out of the tie against Cameroon with at least a point.

“But we lost and that’s it. We have to carry ourselves up in the game against Burkina Faso. We came with a squad of 23 players and we will pick from that pool and they should be able to do duty. With full dedication, we should be able to overcome the challenge posed by Burkina Faso.  “It’s a tough tournament but we have to fight on our own and secure our own passage to the next stage of the tournament. We have a group of good players and they should be able to deliver.”

Loga is likely to go for an all-attack formation given he will be gunning for the maximum points.  But that Chideu will be out could also force the Croatian to deploy Wellington Taderera in front together with Obriel Chirinda and Farawo Matare.  Burkinabe gaffer Seydou Zerbo has since talked tough ahead of the tie which his team is desperate to claim as well.

His chief striker Stephane Pognongo, who secured Burkina Faso’s qualification with a last gasp goal against Ghana was kept under lock and key by Malian defenders and will be hoping to do well against the Warriors.