adminThe match will mark the first of World Cup qualifiers preparations for the “new look” Warriors team as the old one was disbanded by Zifa following the failure to qualify for the Nations Cup finals underway in South Africa.
Zimbabwe will meet Egypt at the end of next month for their World Cup qualifier.
“We hope to start on a positive note with this team and everyone is really raring to go, the response in terms of the technical and mental preparedness has been encouraging,” said Warriors’ manager, Shariff Mussa from Harare yesterday.
He said every player in the squad was eligible for selection in today’s match, indicating that the final 18 would most likely be announced this morning.
“It could be later tonight that we get to announce our final line-up or tomorrow morning,” said Mussa.
He said his camp had a clean bill of health.
The much respected manager said the Warriors’ technical team wanted as many friendly matches as possible ahead of the do-or-die encounter with the Pharaohs but were aware that their wish might be dampened by lack of resources.
Having dropped the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League 2012 Goalkeeper of the Year, Ariel Sibanda, former Highlanders and Dynamos goalkeeper, Washington Arubi is a sure candidate to guard the post ahead of Artwell Mukandi who recently joined Dynamos from Monomotapa.
Another player set to make his debut is the 2012 Stars runner-up Masimba Mambare.
The Warriors need to win this match so as to avoid sliding down the Fifa/Coca-Cola World Rankings which are set to be released next week.
Ranked 28 on the African continent and 102 on the world stage, the Warriors will stand to lose more points if Botswana, ranked 35 in Africa and 124 in the world, win or manage a draw this afternoon.
Meanwhile, organisers of the Africa Cup of Nations have dismissed rumours doing the rounds on social network sites that Mali have been disqualified from the tournament for fielding an unregistered player.
The rumours caught the attention of Bafana Bafana fans, who were hoping that their team would progress to the semi-finals of the tournament if Mali had indeed been disqualified.
“No, it is not true. It is a hoax. Mali have not been disqualified from the Afcon,” Afcon local organising committee spokesperson Sipho Sithole was qouted as saying on KickOff.com.
“This hoax has got people speculating about all sorts of possibilities but there is no substance to the rumours,” he said.
Online Reporter