Online Reporter
Robson Sharuko
MARSHALL Munetsi has revealed that he left his wife in hospital, after a miscarriage, to play for the Warriors in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers, and leaving him out of the finals feels like a betrayal to him and his partner.
Munetsi says his wife Anotida had just had a miscarriage when the AFCON qualifiers started but she understood his decision to go into the trenches, and represent his country, in its bid to qualify for Morocco.
Munetsi said he is now 29, and at the peak of his athletic powers, and he feels that this is the AFCON where he would have shone brightest.
He says he is part of the generation which were blown away when the Warriors qualified for the AFCON for the first time, when he was just a boy, and has always carried the hunger to do well at the tournament.
The Wolves midfielder had been battling behind the scenes to persuade Warriors coach Mariana “Super Mario” Marinica to include him in the squad for the AFCON finals despite reports that he is injured.
Munetsi told Super Mario that ZIFA should use the national team doctors to assess him and pronounce if he was not fit for the AFCON finals.
“I played the first two games of the qualifiers versus Kenya and Cameroon whilst my wife was in hospital after having a miscarriage and she trusted me enough to stay there and make my country proud,” said Munetsi in his communication with the Warriors coach.
“We did that and qualified for AFCON and taking that away from me and her is something that I can’t even put into words.
“My club didn’t say I can’t play in the group stages, they just said the first game would be a risk and I have done everything you asked in reference to the request you made about a new email.
“I just don’t think this is about football anymore because if I was really needed and important to the team then your message would be different.
“It’s time for me to move on from this chapter.”
He added:
“The association has a doctor that can still assess me and that’s allowed by FIFA in such cases.
“I think the communication is fair from the club outlining their thoughts in medical terms and also saying that they cannot guarantee that I will be fit in medical terms but they are willing to support me clinically as safe as possible.
“The Association is also allowed to assess me if there is any doubt about the injury or fitness.
“(With) regards to my injury, it’s nothing big and I don’t have pain at all, it’s just the club trying to be cautious.”
Super Mario told Munetsi that his hands were tied because his club said he was injured and he could not risk him.
“We had correspondence from your club. Unfortunately, you were declared unfit to be playing in the group stage matches.
“Therefore, I have not included (you) in the 28th players squad.
“However, if your recovering is going well, I will be looking to include you after the group stages.
“Sorry to give you the bad news, especially that I truly understand what AFCON means to you.
‘I wish you swift and full recovery.”
His Wolves boss, Rob Edwards, told the media that Munetsi, who missed the 1-4 thrashing at the hands of Manchester United on Monday night, would be out for at least four weeks.
This means that he would not be able to feature for the Warriors in Morocco later this month.
Munetsi was not named in the 28-man squad released by Super Mario yesterday.
He received a text message from the Romanian early yesterday morning advising him that he had been left out of the AFCON squad because his club had made it clear that he not fit for the tournament.
However, Munetsi exclusively told H-Metro yesterday that fears that he would be out of action for a lengthy period were misplaced and he was fit enough to play for the Warriors in Morocco.
He said what he suffered was ‘‘a small calf problem’’ and the argument from his club was that he should not risk it by taking part at the AFCON finals.
However, he insisted that he is someone who naturally heals faster than expected and when the pain disappeared this week, he knew he would be able to play for the Warriors at the AFCON finals.
He said the injury, which was described as a ‘‘muscle tear,’’ would have meant that he would have been struggling even to walk but he was now even taking part in training sessions with his club.
He was part of the training session yesterday.
Chances are that he could even feature for Wolves in their matches, which will run concurrently with the Warriors’ group matches, and that is creating a big problem for Munetsi.
Doing that, after having been declared ineligible for the AFCON finals because of injury, he fears, would give an impression to many back home that he turned his back on his country when it needed him most.
He says he cannot live with such a label given all the sacrifices that he has made for his country and that is why he has been battling to try and convince Super Mario to include him in the AFCON squad.
“I can’t tarnish my reputation with the fans and people back home,” he said.
“Even today, I can come to the national team but the national team doesn’t want me.
“Remember Spain called Lamine Yamal even after Barca said he was injured.
“We never always play when we are 100 percent fit in football, I’m not injured and I can always play through the pain.”
He offered to come home this week and let ZIFA’s doctors assess him and give their own thoughts regarding his fitness to play at the AFCON finals.
The other option was for him to come with one of his club’s specialists who would monitor him and attend to him as and when this was required.
He said he contacted his agent and they had a meeting with his club officials where he told them he was not happy with the way they had provided the communication regarding his injury.
Sources told H-Metro that Wolves officials did not want Munetsi to risk injury at the AFCON finals as he was one of the players the club want to cash in on during the January transfer window.
“There is a feeling in the club’s boardroom that relegation can’t be avoided right now and it’s better to cash in on some players in January and those players should not be risked right now.”
Mathew Masinge