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UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT . . . Kundai Benyu is among players that have been placed on the radar for the Warriors’ African Cup of Nations squad

Mukudzei Chingwere Sports Reporter
ZIFA technical director Wilson Mutekede has recommended that the British-based Zimbabwean footballers who were part of his Warriors squad last month, be given a chance when the African nations Cup of nations side is assembled.

Mutekede briefly took charge of the Warriors for the last two international friendlies which the Warriors played against Lesotho and Namibia.

Although the former Twalumba and Shabanie Mine coach might have lost in both assignments, going down 1-0 to the Crocodiles in Maseru and 3-1 to the Brave Warriors of Namibia in Windhoek but he believes there were some positives that came out from those games.

Now after reverting to his task as technical director following that brief romance with the senior team, Mutekede has taken a professional stance and offered his observations to Warriors coach Sunday Chidzambwa on the players he travelled with to Maseru and to Windhoek. For those two assignments, Mutekede called up the quartet of Tendai Darikwa, Kundai Benyu, McCauley Bonne and Admiral Muskwe.

Unlike the majority of the players who have had their chances with the Warriors and even got the platform to play before the home fans, Darikwa, Benyu, Bonne and Muskwe are still to find that opportunity to showcase their talents before the senior team’s demanding fans.

Mutekede said although it is prudent that coaches should not interfere in their colleagues’ work he also felt duty-bound to advise Chidzambwa on the competence of the players he assessed when he was briefly in charge of the Warriors.

“Previously I heard a lot about those players and when I was appointed to be the interim Warriors’ coach and I felt it was important to give those players a chance which I did when I called them to camp.

“To be honest those players are really good and I feel they can be the future of the Warriors set up.

“It is a very good rejuvenation of the national team they are very good players that are worthy to be given a chance. Without hesitation, malice, favour or fear they are good players and that is very clear, their experience of playing football in Europe is also vital to the team,” Mutekede said. Chidzambwa has been very clear in his interviews with the media that he is open to both advice and criticism as he seeks to build a strong squad for the resumption of the 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

The Warriors got their Group G qualifiers of to a flying start when a Knowledge Musona hat-trick propelled them to a 3-0 win at the National Sports Stadium.

“The other thing that is very important is that in coaching we ought to have respect for each other, so I do not want to seek to impose myself on them (current technical department).

“But when I was with the Warriors coach the purpose for my appointment was clear it was purely for development purposes that is why I gave these new players a chance. So for me not to give a feedback on what I saw in the team it will be very wrong.

“As a technical director it will also be incompetence if I fail to tell the technical department what I observed when I was with the team. The current Warriors team is good but I feel if we add those England based players it will be even better,” said Mutekede.

CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe who assisted Mutekede on that mission in November also spoke highly of the “British Brigade’’

“Honestly from what I saw I can tell you that Zimbabwe has somewhere to start from. Those players are good we need them in the national set up.

“But the problem is that people expect short term rewards, we did not win our matches when they were there but that is because the players did not have enough time to train together.

“You know in football preparation is important and that is why even top coaches like Jose Mourinho say they need to be assessed in their second season. So I do not think those results (when Zimbabwe lost to Namibia and Lesotho) must be used as yardstick to judge how good these players are,” said Chitembwe.

The Warriors will resume their Nations Cup assignments with an away trip to Congo in Brazzaville in September. But before that Chidzambwa is rolling out an intensive preparatory plan to ensure the Warriors are at their beast by the time the qualifiers resume.

Chidzambwa wants ZIFA to make full use of the FIFA dates to assess more players and build a side strong enough to book a place at the 2019 Nations Cup in Cameroon.