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Blessing Malinganiza-Sports Reporter

NATIONAL Under-20 coach, Simon Marange believes that the “Four Nations” tournament in Lilongwe, Malawi will introduce the future senior national team players to international football as the country seeks to promote its own playing culture. 

The tournament initially involved Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the hosts but the Zambians pulled out at the last minute leaving just three participants. 

Marange, who is set to preside over his first international assignment following his appointment as Young Warriors coach, feels that the Four Nation tournament is set to give exposure to the Young Warriors whom the majority debut in an international match. 

With Zimbabwe having been affected by Fifa suspension for almost two years, Marange believes the upcoming tournament which rolls into life today with Zimbabwe playing hosts Malawi will act as a base for the introduction of a new national culture for the Young Warriors. 

“We have not been around for two to three years so this is a chance for us to bring the right culture, the right integrity, and pride in playing for the junior national teams. 

“It is a new chapter, its introduction as these young players have not had international exposure, so for this Four Nations tournament we are just going to build and create the right football language and we will work with going forward,” said Marange. 

As Marange is set for his first international gig, a majority of the players are set to be handed their first international caps.

The Young Warriors coach revealed that there is a lot of excitement within the camp as the Young Warriors face Malawi U-20 national team today. 

“It is a good opportunity for the young players and will be a good opportunity for me as a young coach and there is a lot of excitement in camp,” he said. 

The Young Warriors are part of the three teams that are set to participate in the tournament following the withdrawal of Zambia on Monday. 

The remaining teams are hosts Malawi, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. 

Zimbabwe begin their campaign with a date against the hosts Malawi today before playing Kenya on Friday. 

Marange is not moved by the withdrawal of Zambia from the competition but instead is focusing on his charges’ objectives at the tournament. 

“We are focusing on ourselves and playing the right way and we are not going to look at things we cannot control, it’s unfortunate we would have loved to play Zambia but obviously they are not here and our focus is now on playing Malawi tomorrow (today).

“When we go into this tournament we are going to zoom in into our team and see if we can translate the training sessions onto the pitch, obviously this at a base level.,” said Marange.