admin
Innocent Kurira
WARRIORS defender, Brendan Galloway, will not feature in the next two World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and South Africa after a recurrence of an injury.
The Warriors face Lesotho on Friday in Johannesburg before taking on South Africa on Tuesday, June 11, in Bloemfontein.
According to an update from ZIFA yesterday, all the players had reported for camp besides Teenage Hadebe, who will join camp this morning.
The Warriors held a team meeting yesterday before going on to conduct a light training session later in the day.
Their opponents Lesotho played a friendly game against Namibia at the weekend, which ended 1-1.
Erastus Kalula put Namibia ahead in the early stages of the first half but Lesotho found their way back into the game through Motlomelo Mkwanazi, who equalised in the dying minutes of the game.
After the match, Crocodiles coach Leslie Notsi said:
“I would like to thank the Namibia national team for giving us the opportunity to play with them in terms of preparations.
“I think we were expecting a tough match, which truly it was. They are a very good team, a lot of speed in terms of transitions, physically they are there.
“It was an opportunity for our boys to adapt to playing a team like Namibia, I think there are a lot of attributes we took from this match and, there is a lot of room for improvement coming towards the important matches we are going to play.
“So, all in all, I think, it was a match that was played in good spirit and was very competitive and we are satisfied with the performance of our boys.”
With five AFCON appearances, the Warriors are yet to compete at the World Cup, which has now been expanded to 48 nations, with nine places guaranteed for Africa plus a play-off position.
Drawn in a tough Group C that has Nigeria, surprise group leaders Rwanda and Benin, the Zimbabweans have had a decent start to their campaign with a goalless draw against Rwanda and holding the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw.
Warriors Squad:
Goalkeepers:
Bernard Donovan (Chicken Inn), Martin Mapisa (Dynamos), Godfrey Chitsumba (Manica Diamonds)
Defenders:
Gerald Takwara (Ohod FC), Teenage Hadebe (Konyaspor) Brendan Galloway (Plymouth Argyle), Munashe Garananga (KV Mechelen), Andrew Mbeba (Highlanders), Godknows Murwira (Caps United), Shane Maroodza (Huddersfield), Devine Lunga (Mamelodi Sundowns)
Midfielders
Marshall Munetsi (Stade de Reims), Andy Rinomhota (Rotherham United), Jordan Zemura (Udinese), Walter Musona (Simba Bhora) Daniel Msendami (Jwaneng Galaxy), Tivonge Rushesha (Reading), Joey Phuthi (Sheffield Wednesday), Tawanda Maswanhise (Leicester City)
Forwards
Tinotenda Kadewere (FC Nantes), Tawanda Chirewa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Douglas Mapfumo (Polokwane City) Tymon Machope (Simba Bhora).
Online Reporter