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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor

THERE are fears Czech Republic giants Sparta Prague might have sold ZIFA a dummy that Warriors’ gangly defender Costa Nhamoinesu — an inspirational figure in Zimbabwe’s 2017 Nations Cup campaign — is injured and cannot fly to Harare for the friendly international against Tanzania on Sunday.

The towering centre-back, who turns 31 on January 6 next year, was not included in the Warriors squad announced by national team coach Callisto Pasuwa for the friendly international against the Taifa Stars in Harare.

It’s the first visit to the National Sports Stadium by the Tanzanians since the Taifa Stars destroyed the Warriors’ 2015 Nations Cup dreams by holding out to a 2-2 draw in Harare, in the first round of a preliminary round qualifier, having won the home leg of this showdown in Dar es Salaam 1-0.

Nhamoinesu played in five of the six 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers, missing only the first game against Malawi in Blantyre which the Warriors won 2-1, and transformed himself into one of the team’s key players with a dominant display in the heart of defence while also scoring a goal in the 4-0 rout of Swaziland.

With the experience he had gained from playing in Europe, especially in the trenches of the UEFA Europa Cup, Nhamoinesu is set to play an influential role for the Warriors when they plunge into battle in Gabon where they will take on three of the strongest teams on the continent — Algeria, Senegal and Tunisia.

But Nhamoinesu, the heart and soul of the Warriors’ defensive shield, will not be available for Sunday’s friendly international tie against Tanzania, the first game for the country’s foreign-based troops since they closed their successful 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers with a slender 0-1 loss at the hands of Guinea in Conakry.

Yesterday, as Pasuwa unveiled his squad for the friendly international against the Taifa Stars,he told the ZIFA website that Nhamoinesu had been left out because of injury.

“It is unfortunate that Costa (Nhamoinesu), Evans (Rusike) and Blessing (Moyo) are all out due to injuries as confirmed by their clubs but at the same time this will be an opportunity for other players to get more game time in international matches,” Pasuwa told the ZIFA website www.zifa.org.zw.

ZIFA also suggested, on their website, that Nhamoinesu was not only injured, but has been out of action for over a month now for his Czech Republic club.

“Pasuwa will also have to do without AC Sparta Praha (Prague) defender, Costa Nhamoinesu, who is currently suffering from muscular problems which have seen him miss club action for over a month,” ZIFA claimed on their website yesterday.

“Other injured players from the foreign-based pool are Evans Rusike and Blessing Moyo who play for Maritzburg United in South Africa.

“Pasuwa confirmed the absence of some national team regulars, but expressed confidence in the players available, saying it is an opportunity for them to (battle) under competitive conditions.”

But is Nhamoinesu injured right now and has he been out for a month or could he be out for a month from his club commitments?

Or have ZIFA been sold a dummy by his club who would rather have him stay in the Czech Republic, training ahead of next week’s fixtures, than make the long trip to Zimbabwe for a friendly international against Zimbabwe?

Sparta Prague sacked coach Zdenek Scasny in September this year after a 0-2 derby loss to Sparta Prague and replaced him with David Holoubek while naming former chief scout Tomas Pozar as the sports director in a season in which they lie in fifth place in the championship race having won six, drawn five and lost two of their 13 games.

They have 23 points and are already nine

points adrift of leaders Victoria Plizen (32 points) while their big city rivals Slavia have accumulated 26 points so far.

Nhamoinesu played the full 90 minutes in Sparta Prague’s last game, a goalless draw against Slovan Liberec on Sunday and, having been booked after just 16 minutes, he hung on and played a big part in a fine defensive display by his club before 6 668 fans.

Three days earlier, in Prague, Nhamoinesu also played the full 90 minutes against Israeli club Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the UEFA Europa Cup as Sparta Prague scored twice in the first half and then held on for a 2-0 victory which thrust them top of their group.

“Third straight win in the group stage, Sparta put on a brilliant defensive performance once again and after another win over Hapoel they lead the table with nine points,” the club’s official website reported.

“There was one more injury before the match, as Václav Kadlec could not recover in time and was missing in the attack.” Nhamoinesu also played the full 90 minutes when Sparta Prague powered to a 4-0 victory over Pribram on October 29 this year while he also played the whole game in the 1-3 defeat at the hands of Zlin in a Cup tie having come in as a second half substitute in the 0-1 loss to Viktoria Plzen in a league match. The gangly defender has largely been deployed on the left side of defence by Sparta Prague and has done well both in the domestic Czech championship and the UEFA Europa League in the past month.

Nhamoinesu extended his contract by another two years, in August this year, and the Czech championship will take a winter break on December 3 and will only resume on February 18 next year. This means Nhamoinesu’s commitments at the 2017 Nations Cup finals in Gabon will not clash with his club commitments.

06/11/2016 — FC Slovan Liberec 0, Sparta Prague 0

Booked: Breite, Sýkora — Costa, Holzer, Mazuch.

Sent-off: Dokal.

Sparta Prague Line-Up: Koubek, Karavaev, Mazuch, Kadlec Michal, COSTA NHAMOINESU, Holek, Mareek, Juliš (83’ Mustedanagi?), Dokal, Holzer (69’ Dudl), Lafata (72’ Pulkrab).

03/11/2016 — Sparta Prague 2, Hapoel Be’er Sheva 0

Sparta Prague Line — Up: Koubek, Karavaev, Mazuch, Michal Kadlec, COSTA NHAMOINESU, Juliš (71’ Dudl), Mareek, Holek, Holzer (90’ Milan Kadlec) – Dokal, lafata (79’ Pulkrab).

29/10/2016 — Sparta Prague 4, Pribam 0

Goals — 18’ Karavaev, 45’ Lafata, 76’ Lafata, 85’ Lafata.

Booked: Pulkrab, Mazuch – Trapp, Chaluš.

Sparta Prague Line-Up — Koubek — Karavaev, Mazuch, Kadlec Michal, COSTA NHAMOINESU, Juliš (79’ Dudl), Holek, Dokal (82’ Mustedanagi?), Holzer, Lafata, Kadlec V. (9’ Pulkrab).

26/10/2016 — Zlin 3, Sparta Prague 1 after extra-time (MOL Cup)

Sparta Prague Line-Up: Miller, Karavev, Köstl, Holek, COSTA NHAMOINESU, Juliš (111. Mustedanagi?), Mareek, Dokal, Dudl (80. Holzer), V. Kadlec, Pulkrab (79. Lafata).

23/10/2016 — Viktoria Plzen 1, Sparta Prague 0

Booked: Mareek, Michal Kadlec, Zahustel, Mazuch, COSTA NHAMOINESU

Sparta Prague Line-up: Koubek — Karavaev (78’ Šural), Mazuch, Holek, Michal Kadlec — Zahustel, Dokal, Mareek, V. Kadlec — Lafata (63’ COSTA NHAMOINESU), Juliš (63’ Pulkrab).