Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
WARRIORS coach Ramon Catala is an impressed man after getting to watch local football for the past five weeks.
The Spanish gaffer, who was unveiled by ZIFA last month, has always attended local games, including the CAF Champions League first preliminary round fixture between Zimbabwean champions Scottland and Eswatini side Nsingizini Hotspurs at the National Sports Stadium last Sunday.
And he is convinced there is enough quality on the local scene that can help give him some balance in the national squad.
To underline this belief, Catala named 10 locally-based players in his enlarged 31-member provisional team for the upcoming two 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone and the DR Congo later this month.
And Zimpapers Sports Hub can reveal that Catala’s assistant Marc Sanchez, with whom he always tags along during local matches, has also included a MWOS U-19 defender in his national Under-23 squad to face Mauritius later this month.
Sanchez, who is also Catala’s interpreter, is the Young Warriors head coach.
Catala said: “I think we have watched eight, nine matches across competitions including the (Castle Lager) Premier Soccer League and cup competitions (Chibuku Super Cup and Munhumutapa Cup).
“Besides the other game that finished in a 6-0 result in a cup match, I must say, the level of competition in the local game is top, top.
“The competitiveness is impressive, I must say. The players are really willing to compete. They put their all into it, and that applies to all teams that I have watched so far.
“That makes the league as competitive as I have said.”
Catala, whose philosophy depends more on data analysis, doesn’t have any qualms with the quality the local game carries.
“When it comes to quality, yeah, I have seen that it’s up there as well,” he added.
“I don’t have any doubts about this aspect. All the games I have watched have been played well, and the players have shown their quality.
“At team level, yes, the players understand the systems well, and individually, we have seen that they are also good.
“What we want to see is that and more because we want to broaden our selection base at national team level.
“We want to see this hunger at international level, and that’s why we always want to see a local league being as competitive as it is.
“We will select national team players based on how they are performing at their teams, no matter the geographical location.
“Overall, I am excited and happy with how the league is in Zimbabwe, although the pitch conditions can still be improved to allow the players to cleanly showcase themselves.”
Zimbabwe will begin a new era under Catala when they step onto the field in their Group E opening match against the Lone Stars of Sierra Leone on September 24 in Casablanca, Morocco.
The Warriors will be a bit to the advantage as their hosts will also be away from home after they were forced to look for an alternative venue, as they have no CAF approved stadium for international games.
Four days later, Zimbabwe will be back home, for the first time in more than five years, hosting the DR Congo at the recently partially homologated National Sports Stadium.
The giant facility hosted its first international tournament on Sunday when Scottland played Eswatini side Nsingizini Hotspurs.
It was a refreshing sight, with most of the modernised aspects, such as electronic turnstiles, the floodlights, stadium safety and security, being showcased and helping with easy access and exit from the venue.
