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Tadious Manyepo
TAKESURE CHIRAGWI expects the youthful bunch of home-based Warriors he has in his squad to fully showcase themselves when they play Eswatini in the Africa Nations Championship first round, first leg at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown, Botswana tomorrow.
The match kicks-off at 3pm.
Chiragwi, who deputises for Warriors coach Michael Nees has been given the responsibility to lead Zimbabwe in the qualifiers of a tournament exclusively reserved for players plying their trade in the domestic leagues.
The Ngezi Platinum Stars gaffer, in consultation with Nees and ZIFA, then agreed that they would use this edition of the CHAN as a developmental platform.
It is against this background that Chiragwi called a squad largely made up of Under-20 and Under-23 players with a few exceptions being captain Godknows Murwira, striker Obriel Chirinda and goalkeeper Donovan Bernard. Chiragwi is determined to help the Warriors qualify for the final contest to be staged jointly in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
The Warriors will be the home team tomorrow and will play the return leg at Mbombela Stadium in Mpumakanga province, South Africa next weekend meaning that they won’t break camp after tomorrow’s tie.
The winner of this first round tie will face Madagascar in the final qualifying round with the victors then making it to the CHAN tournament in East Africa.
Chiragwi is also happy with what he has seen so far at training.
“The players are looking sharp and we have every reason to be optimistic. I think this is an opportunity for these youngsters to integrate into the senior team as most of them are coming from the Under-20.
“It’s an opportunity for them to grow and compete at a higher level. They have a lot of passion. So far, we are trying to work on combinations and to familiarise the team to each other.
“The players are coming up and they are not far from what we want, but obviously here and there, because they are still growing, they can make those technical mistakes which are coachable, anyway,” said Chiragwi.
“They have to enjoy the game and showcase themselves.
“We have been telling them to do away with pressure, but just focus on their game. It’s more or less the same as they do at their clubs and they just need to apply themselves well. They have character and hunger. They are technically very sound and tactically they are also good.
“I think the hunger and energy which we are seeing will drive us to positivity on Sunday.”
Chiragwi saluted Nees and ZIFA for showing their faith in him and he vowed to deliver.
“To be honest, I appreciate the opportunity that I have been given. I would like to thank the head coach (Michael Nees) and ZIFA for deciding to hand me this opportunity.
“I have learnt from coach Nees and it is the same philosophy that he uses that I am also going to implement. He has given me a lot of confidence and I appreciate that in a big way,” he said.
“We haven’t changed anything as we will do exactly the same things that we do with the senior guys.
“This is so because we also want to make things easier for them when they graduate to be in the senior team.”
Online Reporter