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Harare Bureau

YOUNG Warriors’ coach, Tonderai Ndiraya, has welcomed the postponement of the last qualifying round against South Africa which was scheduled for first week of June.

The two-legged matches are now in September.

Caf have moved the matches to allow associations to adequately prepare for the qualifier as well as the senior teams’ preparations for the Afcon finals.

This is according to a brief statement from Zifa which was posted on their Twitter handle. 

“Dates for third round Afcon Under-23 qualifiers have been pushed back. Initially set for 3-11 June, the home and away ties between Zimbabwe and South Africa will now be played between 2-10 September. 

“This will give member associations time to prepare for both the teams Afcon and the Under-23,” read the statement.

Yesterday Ndiraya, who recently assumed the head coach role at Dynamos and has been busy reviving the club, said the change of dates will allow them to sort all the players’ documents.

“We had assembled a good squad of local and foreign-based players and were looking  forward to the resumption of camp next week,’’ he said.

“There are some foreign-based players we had overlooked because of documentation and the postponement will give those players enough time to sort out their paperwork. 

“Some of our key players were involved with the senior team in the past and could be involved in the preparations for the Afcon tournament. 

“It was going to be difficult for them to be considered and the postponement has given them an opportunity to be considered and prepare without any hindrances,” said Ndiraya. 

Ndiraya conceeds the Amaglug-glug, who were at the last Olympics in Brazil, are a tougher challenge.

The Young Warriors have received another boost with Prophet Walter Magaya undertaking, once more, to provide the backing for them to succeed.