Sundaymail Editor
Sports Reporter
WARRIORS coach Zdravko “Loga” Logarušic is set to turn to fringe players when he names the squad for the 20th edition of the COSAFA Cup senior men’s tournament in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
COSAFA’s flagship competition is scheduled for Nelson Mandela Bay from July 7-18.
Since his appointment in January 2020, the coach has been somewhat unfortunate to have just one international friendly — against Malawi — organised for him by ZIFA.
The local soccer governing body passed up an opportunity for the Warriors to use the FIFA window for international matches early this month, claiming they had failed to find sparring partners for Loga’s men in time.
Ironically, the bulk of their rivals, including those they will clash with at the COSAFA tournament and in September’s round of World Cup qualifiers, were active during the FIFA window.
The COSAFA tournament, however, falls outside the FIFA calendar for internationals, which means Loga cannot call on regulars such as skipper Knowledge Musona, Marvelous Nakamba, Tino Kadewere, Marshal Munetsi and Teenage Hadebe, who will be focusing on their clubs’ pre-season programmes.
Warriors’ team manager Wellington Mpandare said Loga would be turning his attention to fringe players when he names his COSAFA side this week.
He said the Croat was awaiting the outcome of ZIFA’s application to Government for football to resume.
“We are waiting for Government approval and the team might be announced next week (this week).
“The coach would like to have a look at players that haven’t played in the AFCON qualifiers and that includes some who impressed him at the CHAN tournament.
“So, in short, he wants to give a platform to fringe players to showcase their talent and if they impress, they have a chance to play in the World Cup qualifiers.
“It won’t be easy to call the regular players considering that the COSAFA falls outside the FIFA window,” said Mpandare.
The Warriors were drawn in Group C that has African football heavyweights Senegal, Mozambique and Namibia.
Senegal are taking part in the tournament for the first time as a guest nation.
Loga also believes the COSAFA tournament is a platform to identify the Warriors’ future stars.
“We will use players which we didn’t see during AFCON qualification, and we are going to give chances to players who are coming up to be future stars. They have chances to prove themselves,” he said.
The 55-year-old coach is of the view that there are no favourites from Group C for the semi-final slots.
“It is an interesting draw, so let’s see how things go. All of us have the same chances, let’s see which type of squad the teams will bring.”
The Warriors coach had a brief chance of watching some local Chibuku Super Cup matches but that mission was halted as football was suspended as part of Covid-19 containment measures which came into effect on June 14.
The coach is, however, not looking much into the setback, which could
affect the local players’ fitness levels by the time the Warriors leave for Port Elizabeth.
“We have this disadvantage in that we will bring players from the local league, which has stopped again (due to Covid-19), but we will not complain. Let’s see some new faces and see how they perform.
“Let’s try to make our team strong.”
Online Reporter