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Ricky Zililo Sports Reporter
THE Warriors will only break from camp on Christmas Day, as they continue with their preparations for the African Nations Championship (Chan).The Warriors are in Group B which also includes Burkina Faso, Uganda and Morocco and will be based at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa for the tournament which runs from January 11 to February 1, 2014.
Zimbabwe will be making their third successive appearance at the continental soccer showpiece having taken part at its inauguration in Ivory Coast under Sunday Chidzambwa before making it to Sudan two years later with Madinda Ndlovu in charge.
In a telephone interview from Harare yesterday, national team manager Sharrif Mussa said the technical team would decide today on when to release players.
“Initially, there were possibilities of the guys spending Christmas in camp but right now we intend to break maybe for a day on December 25 and have our programme resuming on Boxing Day. We are yet to finalise on the actual day of which the players will leave camp,” said Mussa.
The break will afford some of the players an opportunity to seal deals with clubs they intend to play for next season. Charles Sibanda’s contract with FC Platinum runs out at the end of the month and has publicly said he will not extend his stay at Zvishavane.
Highlanders are said to be interested in the 2010 Soccer Star of the Year who said he wants to play in his hometown, Bulawayo.
Highlanders are also keen on retaining their players in the national team goalkeeper Munyaradzi Diya, Milton Ncube and Masimba Mambare.
According to sources within the national team, Warriors’ coach Ian Gorowa wanted the players to remain in camp and only break on December 30 for the New Year’s holiday and regroup on January 2.
The Warriors have been in camp since last Monday. Gorowa named a 29-man squad but only two players – Highlanders’ Peter “Rio” Moyo and Misheck Mburayi are yet to join camp as they are in South Africa and Cyprus respectively on private business.
Mussa confirmed the development and said they are expecting Moyo in camp tomorrow but could not be drawn into commenting on Mburayi.
He said their preparations have been going well with the players having three to four sessions a day.
“Our programme is going on well and everyone is coping. What we have been doing is conditioning as well as body work. The boys have been going to the gym in the morning, then have a field session before noon before having another ball work in the afternoon and then back to the gym at the end of the day.
“At this moment we have a clean bill of health and it is our hope that it continues like this. The only players yet to join camp are Peter Moyo who went to South Africa before the squad was announced and we expect him either today or tomorrow. Mburayi is in Cyprus attending trials and we are not sure as to when he will be in camp,” Musa said.
Gorowa will trim the squad to the final 23 before the biennial continental soccer showcase bursts into life. The Chan tournament is exclusively for home-based players and Gorowa, aware of the possibility of losing some of the players to foreign clubs in the January transfer window, has been forced to pick an enlarged squad.
On-demand Hwange defender Eric Chipeta and Highlanders shot stopper Diya who were reportedly wanted by Absa Premiership side Golden Arrows are in camp. Other players that were reportedly said to have attracted South African clubs include Chicken Inn attacking midfielder Kudakwashe Mahachi and Harare City’s Silas Songani who has been linked to South Africa’s Maritzburg United.
Mamelodi Sundowns have said they have exhausted their foreign slots and are unable to sign Mahachi in January. Warriors squad: G Chigova, M Diya, T Dube, M Nyamupangedengu, H Zvirekwi, O Machapa, F Chindungwe, T Ndlovu, E Chipeta, P Jaure, M Ncube, A Mbara, P Manhanga, W Kapinda, D Phiri, T Muparati, C Sibanda, F Bushiri, P Moyo, L Chungwa, S Songani, M Mambare, D Ngoma, A Sadiki, K Mahachi, S Sithole, S Sithole, N Mazivisa, M Mburayi
Online Reporter