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Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter

WARRIORS coach, Zdravko Logarusic, has conceded there are concerns about his central defence, which has been robbed of its pillar, Teenage Hadebe, ahead of the 2022 World Cup opener, against Bafana Bafana.

The two Limpopo rivals clash at the National Sports Stadium on Friday, in their first meeting, at this level of the game, in 20 years. 

Hadebe was barred from coming home, to play in the opening two qualifiers, by his Major League Soccer side, Houston Dynamo, amid concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The American top-flight league have also arranged league fixtures, throughout the window set aside for the World Cup qualifiers, and the struggling Houston Dynamo want one of their key players to be available, for the assignments. 

The club are yet to win a league match since May this year. 

Jimmy Dzingai, who was the other player set to play in central defence, is also unavailable, as he is hunting for a new club. 

This means Loga only has Alec Mudimu, among the players he has fielded as centre-backs, in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers, he has taken charge of. 

Initially, according to sources, Loga had wanted to play Marshall Munetsi, in central defence, a position which the player has occupied, for his France Ligue 1 club, Stade Reims, in the past. 

Such an arrangement would have seen Marvelous Nakamba being tasked with providing the defensive midfield shield. 

But, with the Aston Villa man now unavailable, it means Munetsi might play as the midfield enforcer. 

Munetsi is yet to feature in a match, in which Loga has been in charge, of the Warriors. 

Zimbabwe will be missing the services of the UK-based players, including in-form Bournemouth left-back Jordan Zemura, after their clubs refused to release them for national duty, due to the Covid-19 protocols, in that country. 

Loga conducted his first training session, at the National Sports Stadium yesterday, with much of his focus on defence, which has been the hardest hit area, following the withdrawal of the UK-based players. 

Former Warriors captain, Benjani Mwaruwari, who was appointed assistant coach last week, joined the Warriors at their training session, as he started a new chapter, in his romance, with the national team. 

“The main problem, at the moment, is the back-line, we don’t have so many options, unlike in midfield, and in strike force,’’ said Loga. 

“Our centre-back pairing is not here, our fullbacks are also not here, we are missing a lot of players. 

“We will have to play two games, within a space of four days, plus travelling. 

“It will be difficult to make a balance. 

“We are very worried about the back-line and that is an area we have been trying to fine-tune a lot and we will continue working on it going forward. 

“It is a very big challenge, if you look at it.’’ He said yesterday’s session was meant just to assess the condition of the players.

“Tino (Kadewere) and Marshall Munetsi couldn’t be involved, entirely, and add these to the seven starters, who we are also missing in the team, due to the Covid-19 restrictions,’’ he said.

DOUBLE TROUBLE . . . The France-based duo of Tino Kadewere (left) and Marshall Munetsi appear to be in high spirits after the Warriors’ training session at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

“Whoever is given the chance to play should prove himself that he can play, that is what is more important for us. 

“But, we have two more days of training remaining, and I hope there will be some recoveries. 

“For the first time, Marshall is going to play for me, but there is always a problem and, now, it’s the England players who are not coming.’’ 

However, the coach said it was not the time to bury their heads in the sand but to confront their challenges like true Warriors. 

“I am confident that things will go well, and according to plan, I mean, the players we are going to put in there should be able to show that they have the capacity to play at this level of the game,’’ he said. 

“We will give a chance to, whoever is deserving, and they should take the chance to convince us that they are really capable.

“My job is not to cry but we are missing seven key players, who are all starters. It’s obviously not easy to find seven other players. 

“If we are to add to that list, the clubless duo of Jimmy Dzingai and Ovidy Karuru, plus Teenage Hadebe, they will be 10, of which seven of them are all starters. 

“We have players who are not starters in their clubs but we will have to start them here. We have players who are showing that they are ready for the challenge. 

“We have players who are showing we can do it and who are ready to put smiles on the faces of Zimbabwean people.’’ 

Meanwhile, Bafana Bafana are expected in the country this afternoon. 

Their coach, Hugo Broos, is confident they will represent their country well. 

According to the Sowetan newspaper, the Belgian gaffer is relieved star striker Percy Tau completed his move to Egypt, a few days ago. This made it easier for him, to feature in the game, without complications. Had Tau, who has been named vice-captain, stayed at English Premier League side, Brighton & Hove Albion, he would probably have found it difficult to play in the matches against the Warriors and the Black Stars of Ghana. 

“The Belgian has watched developments in neighbouring Zimbabwe with keen interest as Premier League clubs announced a few days ago that they would not release their players for games in countries on the red-list due to quarantine rules issued by the British government,’’ noted the newspaper. 

“The Zimbabweans find themselves in a predicament as coach, Zdravko Logarusic, named several UK-based players in the squad to face Bafana, and they are now scrambling to secure their release for the crunch World Cup encounter.’’