Warriors court Sudan for AFCON friendly Wellington Mpandare

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sport Reporter

ZIMBABWE are courting Sudan for a pos­sible friendly match as part of the Warriors’ final leg of preparations for the AFCON finals in Cameroon.

The Warriors, who began their training camp in Harare yesterday, are hoping to play at least two sparring matches before they plunge into the battle at the continental football show­case, which begins in about two weeks’ time.

Team manager, Wellington Mpandare, told The Herald that the Warriors, who will be based in Bafoussam for the opening pre­liminary group games, would need to grab the opportunity to engage some of the competing national teams when they arrive in the capi­tal Yaoundé. Sudan qualified for the AFCON tournament for the first time since 2012. They will be making their eight appearance at the tournament finals and the Warriors are hoping to engage them as part of their preparations.

Zimbabwe are set to leave for Cameroon on January 29 and arrive in Yaoundé the fol­lowing day. The Cameroonian capital, which has two hosting stadiums in its vicinity, will be home to most of the participating teams for pre-tournament training camps.

The Warriors will spend five days in Yaoundé before leaving for Bafoussam, which is about 300km north west of the capital.

“It will be good for the team to get the chance to gauge their strengths before the tournament. For now, we are talking to Sudan and we are proposing a friendly match on January 2.

“We would like to play at least two friendly matches in Yaoundé so we are still looking for another team to engage on January 4.

“Otherwise we can say our preparations are now in motion. The coach called in a 30-mem­ber provisional squad and they started trooping in today (yesterday). “Obviously we will have to observe all the Covid-19 protocols, which means we begin by testing the players and officials on arrival. We will test again before we begin our full training on Sunday,” said Mpandare.

All the home-based players were expected to report for camp yesterday. The technical team was also expecting South Africa-based players like Gerald Takwara, Ishmael Wadi, Talbert Shumba and newboy Temptation Chiwunga to be in camp as well.

United States-based defender Teenage Hadebe, who has been in the country since the conclusion of the Major League Soccer season last month, is also expected among the early birds. The rest of the players are expected today and tomorrow while five players, among them captain Knowledge Musona, will not be part of the local training camp.

Musona’s Saudi Pro-League side Al Tai asked for the player to stay on until the New Year’s eve. Mpandare said they received similar requests from Tino Kadewere’s Olympique Lyon, Jordan Zemura’s Bournemouth, David Moyo’s Hamilton Academic and Luton Town, where Admiral Muskwe is based.

The quintet will join the rest of the squad in Cameroon. “By Boxing Day all the players that are supposed to join the local camp should be in. The AFCON fever is in motion across the continent and we should be sending an advance party to Cameroon on December 25 to go and lay the groundwork ahead of the team’s arrival.

“Of course, we have done all the hotel book­ings and other stuff but there is a lot of logistical stuff that still needs to be put in place so that the team will not struggle when we arrive in Cameroon.

“Then on January 5, we will leave Yaoundé for Bafoussam. We will be joined by those five players that will not be coming here for the first phase of the camp.

“We made arrangements with their clubs after they had sent their requests to us. So they will miss a few days here. Sometimes you need to be flexible when dealing with the clubs because we will also need favours from them one day. “In fact, according to the regula­tions, they are obliged to release players 10 days before the tournament and in this case they could have chosen to do so on the 29th, which is the day we expect to leave for Cameroon. So we were not going to have them either way, if it had gone to that extent,” said Mpandare.

Zimbabwe are in Group B at the tournament along with Malawi, Senegal and Guinea.

The Warriors will play their first two group matches against Senegal and Malawi at Koue­kong Stadium in Bafoussam on January 10 and January 14. Zimbabwe and Malawi will be resident at a hotel which is 70 km from the match venue, something which ZIFA and the Football Association of Malawi said was not ideal for the players. The Warriors will then transfer to Yaoundé for the final group match against Guinea on January 18 at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium. The tournament will be played from January 9 to February 6, 2022.

Warriors AFCON Squad

GOALKEEPERS: Petros Mhari (FC Platinum) Martin Mapisa (FC Zamora) Talbert Shumba (Free State Stars) Taimon Mvula (Dynamos).

DEFENDERS: Peter Muduwa (Highlanders) Alec Mudimu (Torpedo Kutaisi) Takudzwa Chimwemwe (Nkana) Jordan Zemura (AFC Bournemouth) Tapiwa Sibanda (Cranborne) Godknows Murwira, Frank Makarati (Dynamos) Gerald Takwara (Venda Football Academy) Teenage Hadebe (Houston Dynamo) Bruce Kangwa (Azam) Onismor Bhasera (SuperSport United).

MIDFIELDERS: Temptation Chiwunga (JDR Stars) Kel­vin Madzongwe (FC Platinum) Bill Antonio (Dynamos) Thabani Kamusoko (Zesco United) Never Tigere (Azam) Kudakwashe Mahachi (SuperSport United) Shepherd Mhlanga (Chicken Inn) Ishmael Wadi (JDR Stars) Panashe Mutimbanyoka (FC Platinum).

STRIKERS: Admiral Muskwe (Luton Town) Knox Muti­zwa (Golden Arrows) Prince Dube (Azam) David Moyo (Hamilton Academical) Knowledge Musona (Al-Tai) Tinotenda Kadewere (Olympique Lyonnais).

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