adminTakudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Under-23 coach Callisto Pasuwa will have to make do with a makeshift squad when the Young Warriors host Cameroon in an All-Africa Games second round, first leg qualifier at Rufaro on Sunday.
This Young Warriors coach has for the last two weeks been struggling to get the players he had initially called up for camp as local and foreign clubs stuck with their players and opted to retain them for varying league assignments.
By yesterday most players had still not joined camp and there seems to be no solution as match day draws closer.
The match against Cameroon is not on the FIFA calendar so both local and foreign teams have been reluctant to release players ahead of the start of the 2015 domestic season.
The Castle Lager Premiership program starts tomorrow when Harare City host Tsholotsho at Rufaro.
Premiership giants CAPS United through their English coach Mark Harrison kick-started the club versus country dispute last week when they declined to let left back Ronald Pfumbidzai and Takudzwa Mahori join the Young Warriors camp.
Team manager Charles Mukaronda was however, putting on a brave face and said they had a good afternoon training yesterday but several players were still to report for duty.
Mukaronda had also indicated that Mamelodi Sundowns promised to release Kuda Mahachi but until yesterday the attacking midfielder’s arrival was yet to be confirmed.
Besides Mahachi FC Platinum’s quartet of captain Wisdom Mutasa, Walter Musona, Kelvin Moyo and Emmanuel Mandiranga were absent from the training ground.
Mahachi is one of the foreign based players that coach Callisto Pasuwa had initially called up Munyaradzi Mbanje (Leeds), Macauley Bonne (Colchester United), and Marvellous Nakamba (Vitesse) among his foreign legion.
The duo of Australian-based goalkeeper Ackim Abdul and striker Judah Rashirai from the United States are the only two foreign-based players in the squad that trained at Rufaro yesterday afternoon.
“After securing Pfumbidzai and Mahori we were hoping that the situation would improve.
“Mahachi is not in camp so far and we are hopeful he can be here tomorrow (today).
Online Reporter