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“We are working with Zifa and as of now all things are in order. We are processing the required documents for the players and officials,” he said.
Manchester City midfielder, Yaya Toure, is one of a galaxy of English Premiership stars who have gone on cyberspace to throw their full support behind Mwaruwari’s testimonial match.
Mwaruwari was one of the African players who organised and featured in Kanu’s testimonial in Nigeria.
Now, Kanu is repaying his close friend with a visit to Zimbabwe to feature in the testimonial match.
Zambian captain Chris Katongo is also set to grace the National Sports Stadium, just three months after leading his country to a sensational Nations Cup triumph.
The Chipolopolo skipper was named the best player at the 2012 Nations Cup finals.
Katongo, like Mwaruwari, used South African side Jomo Cosmos as a springboard to European football.
Now playing his football in China, Katongo pushed all the African stars into the shade at the 2012 Nations Cup finals with an irresistible show as he led from the front to power Zambia to their maiden title.
Zambian legend Kalusha Bwalya, who has helped turn the Chipolopolo brand around since taking over as Football Association of Zambia president, is also set to grace the occasion.
The Zambians will join South Africa’s Steven Pienaar, Samba Sow of Mali, El Hadji Diouf of Senegal, Kolo Toure and Didier Drogba of Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon’s Alex Song, Nigeria’s Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Ghana’s Michael Essien.
Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari, South African defender Bongani Khumalo, Nwankwo and Chris Kanu and Emmanuel Adebayor are some of the active stars who are set to feature in the testimonial.
Retired stars likely to fly into Harare for the occasion include Nigerian legend Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, Cameroon’s Rigobert Song and Zimbabwe’s own Bruce Grobbelaar.
This galaxy of African football stars, both retired and active, are set to honour Mwaruwari as he officially says goodbye to international football.
The Portsmouth striker’s last match for the Warriors was when he featured in the drawn 0-0 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Cape Verde in November 2010.
But the former Manchester City striker, who is now in the twilight of his career, has decided to bid farewell to the Zimbabwean fans at home and has roped in a star-studded line-up for his testimonial match.
The game will be the highlight of the official launch of the Benjani Mwaruwari Foundation Trust, a charity organisation aimed at grooming football talent.
To kick-start the festival, a junior soccer tournament was held in Bulawayo last weekend.
A dinner dance is scheduled for a Harare hotel tomorrow but the major highlight would be the match featuring the Friends of Benjani against the Warriors at the National Sports Stadium.
A team of former Zimbabwe greats will play in the curtain raiser before the testimonial game.
The celebrations will culminate in the groundbreaking ceremony of a football academy in Bulawayo on a piece of land acquired by the former Warriors star.
The testimonial match is the first for Zimbabwe to attract such an array of stars and ends all speculation linking Mwaruwari to a possible dance with Warriors as a player.
He has indicated that he would like to play for the Warriors and the All Stars in either half of the match.
A Southern Region Select featuring some former Warriors stars will curtain raise against their Northern Region counterparts.
Former Warriors goalkeeper Muzondiwa Mugadza has arrived to be in between the goalposts for the Ali Dube and Gibson Homela-coached Southern Region Select.
“It was an honour to get a call from Benjani Mwaruwari inviting me to the match. We meet quite often and I have met some of the guys who are expected here who include Kanu. It would be nice to meet again here having first met when we were Under-23s in the early 1990s.
“When we went to Nigeria they asked to take us out after the match, maybe we can reciprocate the favour,” said Mugadza last night. — Harare Bureau-Sports Editor
Online Reporter