adminBafana Bafana in a high-profile international friendly at Rufaro on November 15.
Mwanjali, who featured in all the Warriors Group A matches in their failed 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, was left out of the side that will face Bafana Bafana in Zimbabwe’s rare home international friendly against their neighbours from south of the Limpopo.
The Mamelodi Sundowns captain was guilty of two calamitous first half blunders that handed Cape Verde two goals in their 2-1 over the Warriors in their final Group A qualifier in Praia on October 8.
The former CAPS United utility player later took full responsibility for his costly mistakes and issued a public apology on the Warriors return from Cape Verde.
Mwanjali’s exclusion from the 20-man side means he will not get a chance to play on opposing sides with his Mamelodi Sundowns teammate and striker Katlego Mphela who has been named in Pitso Mosimane’s squad for the Harare trip.
Although Mwanjali appears to have paid the price for the defeat to Cape Verde, Warriors coach Norman Mapeza insisted yesterday that the national team captain was “merely being rested in order to give other fringe defenders a chance”.
It is the first time that the Warriors are regrouping since their dreams of a place at next January’s Nations Cup finals melted in the heat of Cape Verde as Mali ran away with the Group A ticket while the Blue Sharks edged Mapeza’s men for second place.
Mapeza said he was particularly keen to try Kaizer Chiefs’ Lincoln Zvasiya in the heart of defence and felt that the friendly against Bafana Bafana had provided him with a perfect opportunity to do so.
The Warriors coach revealed that he would continue to use the senior team’s forthcoming assignments to try new combinations and cited the inclusion of the Dynamos pair of Denver Mukamba and Archieford Gutu and Ramson Zhuwawo, who plays for AmaZulu in South Africa, as another move to try and widen his selection base.
“We have got other players whom we have been calling up to the squad but they have not been getting a chance. Method played in all the qualifiers, he is still part of us, we need him and it’s not like we have dumped him, I know that some of our critics will rush to conclude that we have dumped Method but that is not the case.
“In my philosophy there is nothing like a player being dropped . . . we just want to have a look at such players like Zvasiya who have not had much game time.
“I believe we still have some more friendlies next year and we will be continuing with this exercise of giving more players like Zhaimu Jambo some game time. It is the same story with Edward Sadomba, who we have also excused from this game.
“Method and Edward are some of the most senior players and they have a lot of experience and we need to give them a rest while we assess some of the guys so that in the end we come up with a stronger squad in time for the start of our next campaign.
“You can see that we have brought in players like Denver and Archie as part of exposing more players to the game. I wish we could have more tournaments like the Cosafa which we could use to assess more local players because friendlies like the one we will have against South Africa do not give us much time to train,” Mapeza said.
Warriors manager Sharrif Mussa said they were expecting the players to start trooping in on the night of November 13. There was no place too for sprightly winger Quincy Antipas who plays in Denmark with Mapeza revealing that the former Motor Action forward had not yet fully recovered from an ankle injury.
“I spoke to Joey who was recently in Denmark and he told me Quincy has not fully recovered from his injury so we have excused him from this game,” Mapeza said.
But there was a largely familiar outlook to the core of the squad that has been doing duty for the Warriors with the goalkeeping pair of AmaZulu skipper Tapuwa Kapini and Dynamos’ Washington Arubi being retained.
Talismanic forward Knowledge Musona of German Bundesliga side TSG Hoffenheim has also been included as have the Ajax Cape Town pair of Khama Billiat and Tafadzwa Rusike veteran Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Tinashe Nengomasha and French-based Ovidy Karuru.
Former Gunners midfielder Zhuwawo last featured for the Warriors in the qualifiers for the African Nations Championships but once he secured a move to South Africa he became ineligible for the CHAN squad that travelled to Sudan at the start of this year.
Squads:
Warriors:
Goalkeepers: Tapuwa Kapini, Washington Arubi
Defenders: Tapiwa Khumbuyani, Gilbert Mapemba, Daniel Veremu, Thomas Sweswe, Lincoln Zvasiya, Vusa Nyoni, Zhaimu Jambo
Midfielders: Denver Mukamba, Ovidy Karuru, Willard Katsande, Archieford Gutu, Tinashe Nengomasha, Ramson Zhuwawo, Khama Billiat, Tafadzwa Rusike
Strikers: Cuthbert Malajila, Nyasha Mushekwi, Knowledge Musona
Bafana Bafana:
Goalkeepers: Moneeb Josephs, Wayne Sandilands
Defenders: Morgan Gould, Happy Jele, Siboniso Gaxa, Tsepo Masilela, Bongani Khumalo, Anele Ngcongca, Siyabonga Sangweni, Punch Masinamela, Musa Bilankulu, Bevan Fransman
Midfielders: Daylon Claasen, Hlompho Kekana, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Oupa Manyisa, Thanduyise Khuboni, Reneilwe Letsholonyana, Kagisho Dikgacoi, Teko, Granwald Scott, George Lebese, George Maluleka, Steven Pienaar
Strikers: Kermit Erasmus, Siyabonga Nontshinga, Katlego Mphela, Bradley Grobler.
leeroy