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Eddie Chikamhi, Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE international Tendai Ndoro, who is the current ABSA Premiership top scorer, says the Warriors should not be afraid of the big names they are expected to rub shoulders with at the Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Gabon next January.

Speaking ahead of Zimbabwe’s first international friendly match in preparation for the continental football showcase against Tanzania tomorrow, the Orlando Pirates forward conceded the Warriors’ Group B which features star-studded powerhouses Senegal, Algeria and Tunisia will be tough.

However, Ndoro believes the Warriors will be going to Gabon to compete.

“It’s a difficult group. We are going to meet most of the players who play for big European clubs and it will be a good thing for us to go there and match them. Football is just the same no matter where you play,” said Ndoro.

“The good thing is we know them and they probably don’t know much about us. So it will be an advantage to us.”

The Warriors take on Tanzania in a friendly international at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.

“With this generation, we will try to make it to the quarter-finals and from there we will think of the semi-finals and if God opens for us we will be happy to win the thing. “It’s just all up to us; the hard work we put in and the team work, of course, we may achieve what we want in January,” said Ndoro.

He welcomed the efforts by Zifa to arrange the friendly matches for the Warriors who also have lined up a date with African champions Cote d’Ivoire on December 26 in Abidjan.

Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, while their opponents are involved in testing matches in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Callisto Pasuwa’s men have no such privilege as they were kicked out of the global tournament.

“It’s good we have begun the preparations and this is the first game. The morale is high, almost everyone called by the coach is here, happy and ready to go. Obviously the focus is on the Afcon finals in January and we have to gear up,” said Ndoro..

“I hear we will also play Cote d’Ivoire who are the African champions during the preparations. These are good games. With these Fifa breaks, it’s all about us as Zimbabwe to have such preparatory games because some of the countries are playing (in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers).

“So it will be a disadvantage to us to just sit and wait for the Afcon to start without proper preparation. It’s a good thing for the team to be playing together regularly.”

He said he wants to fight for a place in the final squad to travel to Gabon. So far he has scored 13 goals in all competitions in the South Africa Premiership.

Ndoro leads the ABSA charts with seven goals and has scored five times in the Nedbank Cup and only last weekend opened his account in the Telkom Knockout Cup.

“I have been working hard in training and then of course team work because I can’t do it alone. So it’s about combining with my colleagues, the technique and skills I have to score goals. But I am not yet there, I just want to finish on a high note. I don’t wish to let myself down. I will try to keep calm and take every game as it comes. I don’t set targets but I will just see how it all turns out at the end of the season.”

The Pirates hitman is one of the seven strikers called by Pasuwa for the friendly match.

The others are Musona, Mathew Rusike, Cuthbert Malajila, Tino Kadewere and Nyasha Mushekwi.

Almost all the players reported for duty by yesterday morning except for Mamelodi Sundowns attacking midfielder Khama Billiat.

Warriors coach Pasuwa said the midfielder had been delayed as his passport had been submitted for visa processes ahead of their trip to Japan for the Fifa Club World Cup with the recently crowned African club champions Mamelodi Sundowns scheduled for next month.  Billiat was expected to join the rest of the squad last night.

“It’s a very important match in the sense that we have started preparing for the Afcon tournament. Secondly, it’s the combinations that we want to see and team building with the boys,” said Pasuwa.

“As you know most of the games that we have been playing, we were meeting just one or two days before the match.

“So we need these friendly games to see how we fare in terms of goalkeeping, defending and offensive play. The combination of the four areas will give us a hint of how we play when we go to Afcon.

“But I’m happy I have 95 percent of the players that I called. We also have new guys like Oscar Machapa as you know we wanted to beef up the defensive area. So we have been talking to the players and so far so good.”

The coach also urged Zifa to address the volatile issue of bonuses to motivate the players ahead of the tournament.

“Now that we are moving to a bigger tournament, we need to put everything in place. Remember there has been a cry of monetary issues related to the boys’ allowances and everything else. We need to sort everything out before we even go to the tournament,” said Pasuwa.

Warriors Squad

Goalkeepers: Donovan Bernard (How Mine), Tatenda Mukuruva (Dynamos), Nelson Chadya (Ngezi Platinum)

Defenders: Onismor Bhasera (Supersport United), Hardlife Zvirekwi (CAPS United), Bruce Kangwa (Azam FC), Lawrence Mhlanga (Chicken Inn), Teenage Hadebe (Chicken Inn), Tendai Ndlovu (Highlanders), Oscar Machapa (AS Vita Club)

Midfielders: Willard Katsande (Kaizer Chiefs), Marvelous Nakamba (Vitesse Arnhem), Marshall Mudehwe (FC Platinum), Raphael Kutinyu (Chicken Inn), Danny Phiri (Golden Arrows), Kudakwashe Mahachi (Golden Arrows), Khama Billiat (Mamelodi Sundowns)

Strikers: Knowledge Musona (KV Oostende), Mathew Rusike (Helsingborgs IF), Tendai Ndoro (Orlando Pirates), Cuthbert Malajila (Bidvest Wits), Philani Kadewere (Djurgardens IF), Nyasha Mushekwi (Dalian Yifang)