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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIFA has started planning for Zimbabwe’s crucial Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Botswana, with Warriors team manager Wellington Mupandare saying they want flawless preparations.

Last week Zifa set the ball rolling by sending out invitation letters to players’ clubs more than a month before the away fixture in Botswana.

The Warriors are second in the qualifying Group H with five points from four games, while Botswana is in third place and the two face each other on March 22.

On March 30, Zimbabwe will play host to Zambia at the National Sports Stadium.

These are must-win matches for Zimbabwe and flawless preparations are what the Warrios need in their quest to qualify for the continental showpiece.

Mpandare understands the importance of proper planning so that the technical staff and players focus on the job at hand.

Knowing “dirty” tactics used in African tournaments whereby some nations subject visiting teams to hostile treatment in a bid to frustrate their opponents, the Warriors have to be mentally and physically prepared.

FC Platinum was “frustrated” in their last Caf Champions League match against Simba SC of Tanzania, during which five key members of their squad were ruled out of the match after testing “positive” for Covid-19 on the eve of the match.

FC Platinum cried foul play as results were delivered to their opponents first hours before kick-off.

As a result, the Warriors might leave for Botswana on the eve of the match.

At the stage the Warriors are, they cannot leave anything to chance, hence Mpandare’s proposal for a late take off to Botswana.

“In terms of logistics, I’ve started doing research and there are daily flights to Botswana via South Africa, meaning that the ideal situation is to have all international players flying into Zimbabwe. Because of the Covid-19 situation, I think it would be ideal for us to leave on the eve of the match and use the results from tests done here for the game and come back. Please note that this is an option that I’ll present to the other guys and if they agree we will pursue it,” said Mpandare.

“Planning in advance is key and we don’t want to leave things to chance. We started the process of inviting players by writing to their clubs last week. This was done to avoid a situation whereby after we’ve announced the squad you hear that certain players are unavailable. It has happened in the past and now we’ve sent invites early to avoid such situations,” he said.

The Warriors will head to Botswana without playing any friendly matches, meaning that the technical team will pray that players called up are active at their clubs in the run-up to the crucial matches. — @ZililoR