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Callisto Pasuwa

Sports Reporter
WARRIORS’  local contingent will have a day to shake off their off-season rust before they fly out to Abidjan for their Boxing Day international friendly against Cote d’Ivoire.

With the bulk of the foreign-based players only expected to start arriving in the country on the same day that the Warriors will be playing in Abidjan, coach Callisto Pasuwa has been left with no choice but to use the bulk of the players who are not in his provisional squad for the African Cup of Nations campaign in Gabon next month.

Despite missing such key players like Belgium-based talisman  Knowledge Musona, Khama Billiat and Costa Nhamoinesu, Pasuwa reckoned the game was still important for Zimbabwe’s preparations as he could assess the locals who are in the provisional Nations Cup squad.

Pasuwa said the game had long been confirmed before they had discovered that they would face challenges with an early release of regular players.

“This fixture was arranged well before we knew we will not get all our players before 24th of December, to only later find out.

“But we had no choice but to fulfill the fixture.

“But I wouldn’t say it’s a matter of wasting time (which we should have been preparing in camp) because as you can see, l have taken the local boys and we also need to see how they perform away from home character wise.

“We also have one foreign player, Tino Kadewere in the squad,” said Pasuwa.

Warriors’ manager Sharif Mussa said the foreign legion is now expected to go into camp on December 26 evening and start training the following day.

This development will see Pasuwa leaving behind some members of his technical team when he goes to West Africa as he is only expected to be back with the B squad on December 28.

“The foreign based players will only be released on December 24th, with Christmas Day being there, so we have allowed them to come in on the 26th and it is the same day which we will be playing in Ivory Coast.

“We are going with an 18-member squad and a few technical members, some of the technical are remaining behind so that when those that come on the evening of 26th and start our program on 27 will be taken care of while waiting for these boys to come back.

“Travel arrangements are going to be complicated a bit, we may travel around a few countries before we arrive and hopefully we rest before the game.

“The itinerary that we are working on is that we leave early hours Friday morning and get there by lunch time but it is the return time which might delay the team coming if we fail to get good connections and may take 24 hours for the team to come back,” said Mussa.

CAPS United defender and Castle Soccer Star of the Year Hardlife Zvirekwi will lead the Warriors in the absence of skipper Willard Katsande.
Zvirekwi, voted his club’s Best Player for 2016, is also a regular member of the Nations Cup squad that is laced with the foreign legion.

With Pasuwa having resisted temptation and pressure to tamper with the squad that has served him for much of the qualification campaign, first choice goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva, the only other local player to make the starting team in the Nations Cup side is also travelling as his usual understudy Donovan Bernard as

Warriors’ squad for Cote  d’Ivoire match:

Donovan Bernard, Tatenda Mukuruva, Hardlife Zvirekwi, Elisha Muroiwa, Lawrence Mhlanga, Teenage Hadebe, Tendai Ndlovu, Ronald Pfumbidzai, Liberty Chakoroma, Lewis Kutinyu, Ronald Chitiyo, Marshal Mudehwe, Talent Chawapiwa, Walter Musona, Malvin Gaki,  Pritchard Mpelele, Tinotenda Kadewere, Leonard Tsipa.