Mapeza wants his stars

Liberia and wants to use the Warriors international friendly against Zambia to form the basis of their preparations.
The Warriors are scheduled to host Chipolopolo in a high profile international friendly at Rufaro on August 10. It will be the first time that the Warriors regroup since their 2-1 triumph over Mali in a Nations Cup Group A qualifier at Rufaro on June 5.

That victory, via a Knowledge Musona brace, breathed life into the Warriors’ campaign and although they remained third on the group table, it helped close the gap between them and leaders Cape Verde who were handed a 1-0 defeat by Liberia in Monrovia.
The Warriors next Group A assignment is a home game against Liberia on September 4.

But with Zifa being pegged back by limited financial resources, the Warriors could not capitalise on the European and South African off-season break to have another run out together as the association also needed to cater for the Young Warriors and Mighty Warriors’ All-Africa Games assignments.
The Warriors’ August 10 date with Chipolopolo is also falling on a Fifa date for international friendly matches and Mapeza revealed yesterday that he would want to make the most of it by including the national team’s foreign legion.

Mapeza said he had met with his assistant Joey Antipas, team manager Shariff Mussa and Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze where they outlined the need for the senior team to maximise on the showdown with the Zambians.
International friendlies between the Warriors and Chipolopolo had become few and far between in the last few years but with Zimbabwe having revived their qualification chances for the 2012 Nations Cup finals,

Mapeza wants to keep his squad intact.
“We met with the chief (Mashingaidze) and presented our requirements to him as a technical department.
“We are now awaiting feedback from Zifa and if we get the greenlight we would want to call the players that will also make the camp for the Liberia game.

“If it is a friendly that we will use to prepare for the Liberia game then it is only important and logical that we try to use more or less the same players that we will use for that Nations Cup qualifier so that we get a chance to polish up on some of the weak areas in a big match situation.
“I am sure by next week we should be in a position to know where to start and that is when we can announce the squad for that friendly,” Mapeza said.

Warriors’ manager Mussa said although Mashingaidze had hinted to them about the constraints that Zifa were facing he had also indicated that the association would consider their request.
“As is always the case before every Warriors match I outlined to Zifa our usual critical path and we indicated that we would want the players at least 48 hours before the game, as you know with Fifa friendlies there is limited time to be in camp.

“The friendly match against Zambia is coming at an opportune time in that it will be closer to the date when we play Liberia.
“It is our wish and desire to have a strong squad for that friendly inasmuch as we are aware of the challenges that Zifa are facing, we also believe that the Warriors need to be adequately prepared for the remainder of our Nations Cup qualifiers against Liberia and Cape Verde.

“We are now waiting for the return of the chief executive from Germany to know if there is a budget for us to bring in the foreign contingent which the coach wants. We are aware that we may not be able to get everybody that the coach would want but we are hopeful that we will be able to get as many as possible so that we do not have many problems with working on combinations and all the areas that the coaches are trying to perfect,” Mussa said.

Mashingaidze is in Frankfurt, Germany attending a Fifa symposium on Women’s football that is being held on the sidelines of the Women’s World Cup and is only expected back in the country on Tuesday. Mussa said they also wanted to get early confirmation from Zifa on the availability of players in order to send out letters of request to the clubs on time.

“The European season and some of the professional leagues are about to start and we would need to know our limitations so that we assess our options.
“Maybe if we cannot bring everybody, then it will be up to the coach to see which players he would want to assess in the game against Zambia as there are others that he knows much about,” Mussa said.

The affable Warriors manager also lauded the Mighty Warriors for recently lifting the Cosafa Women’s Cup.

“We applaud the Mighty Warriors for doing us proud and we believe as the Warriors that, with all the necessary support from everybody, the government and the corporate world and God willing we can also bewinning more regularly.
“We can’t change the beginning but we can change the end so it is our desire to ensure that we finish these qualifiers on a winning note and we believe it can be done,” Mussa said.

Although the bulk of the Warriors’ foreign legion including skipper Method Mwanjali, Thomas Sweswe, striker Nyasha Mushekwi, midfielders Khama Billiat, Willard Katsande and Tinashe Nengomasha ply their trade in South Africa, the senior team also have a number of their key men playing in Europe and other countries.

Musona, who has scored all the Warriors goals in this campaign, is in Germany where he is on the verge of a sealing a move to TSG Hoffenheim.
The Kaizer Chiefs hotshot is unlikely to return to South Africa amid indications that he had a successful pre-season stint with Hoffenheim on their tour of Austria. The Warriors also have Vusa Nyoni in Belgium, Clement Matawu, who is playing in Poland, Edward Sadomba in Sudan, Austria-based Justice Majabvi and winger Quincy Antipas in Denmark.

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