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Cyprian Mandenge

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
SABLEs coach Cyprian Mandenge appears spoilt for choice ahead of his team’s Africa Cup match against Senegal later this month after a number of players from the squad of locals which thumped Zambia left a mark on him.

Zimbabwe ran out easy 64-3 winners against their northern neighbours at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.

Although, Zambia are ranked a lowly 82 with Zimbabwe on 36th, Mandenge will take a lot of positives from the match which was part of the Sables preparations for their June 24 showdown with Senegal in Dakar.

Only three foreign-based players Hilton Mudariki, Brian Nyaude and Lawrence Clemison featured in the team with the rest being home-grown talent.

Mandenge said Saturday’s encounter gave a chance to have a deeper appreciation of the locals.

“We used local players and only had three foreigners in the team. The margin could have been wider. We have local talent. At least now I know who is who in the local league. Considering that we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, things came out well. The only challenge is I didn’t get to see how we can perform under pressure, he said.

The coach understands that the team still has room to improve before the upcoming game.

“It is work in progress, considering going to Senegal, facing an unknown quantity, we want to test the way we will play against them,” he said.

The Sables coach who was missing other good local players through injuries, the likes of Jacques Leitao, said no one has a guaranteed place in the team.

“I am happy with the result and the performance. A lot of guys did put up their hands for selection. It will widen our pool considering we have five teams in our pool. Selection has been ongoing and it is a continuous process. The foreign players will have to do well more than the local based if they are to get into the team, said Mandenge.

Mandenge is expected to name his squad for the Senegal match by end of this week. But in the meantime the team which played at the weekend will continue with sessions twice a week.

Zimbabwe want to stay in the Gold Cup when the World Cup qualifiers begin and avoid relegation to the silver group. After the away match, they will then play Namibia on July 15 before they host Kenya at Hartsfield in Bulawayo.

The other two teams in the 1A gold are Uganda and Tunisia.