admincalled 18 players who all turned up for training as they had a first session at the Italian Sports Club in the morning before another session at Rufaro in the afternoon.
Pagels would be carrying all the players for the road trip to Lusaka this morning and he is hoping to hold another training session in Lusaka tomorrow.
Zimbabwe will be playing Zambia as part of the 20th anniversary to mark the air crash that wiped out a generation of Zambian footballers after their chartered military plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Gabon.
Chipolopolo were on their way to Senegal for a 1994 World Cup qualifier when disaster struck on April 27, 1993, leaving Zambia to rebuild the team around the inspirational Kalusha Bwalya who had missed the doomed flight.
The match against Zambia will be Pagel’s third in charge of the Warriors since he was appointed caretaker coach after presiding over a friendly with Botswana and then a World Cup qualifier against Egypt.
Unlike the previous two matches, Pagels’ selection has been limited to locally based players who only trooped into camp on Wednesday evening and held their first training session yesterday morning.
The provisional Castle Lager Premiership fixture had indicated that they would be mid-week matches this weekend and Pagels had planned his camp with that in mind instead of regrouping on Monday.
“I am really impressed with the guys who are here after the two training sessions because all the players who have been invited came and are in good condition.
“Everyone is in good shape and the other good thing for me is that everyone is willing to run and fight for their places in the team.
“We are building a new team and we need these kind of players with enthusiasm,” said Pagels.
Pagels hinted that players who don’t take responsobility may not have a place in his squad.
“We do not want players who try to hide at the back and do not demand the ball at all. I need players who always want to get the ball and want to attack.
“It means we should have lots of running and all the players we selected did just that in these sessions,” said Pagels. While he could have wanted to have more time for preparations, Pagels is confident that he achieved a lot yesterday where he was assisted by Lloyd Mutasa and Nkululeko Dhlamini.
“The time is not enough to fully assess the players but that is the time we had. We have to make the best out of it.
“In this short time, I think the players did a lot, especially in the afternoon session when we trained on a lot of tactical issues,” he said.
Hwange defender Eric Chipeta and FC Platinum’s Kelvin Moyo are now bracing for their first caps while the German coach has recalled gangly Buffaloes’ midfielder Prosper Matizanadzo for assessment and Dynamos’ Devon Chafa has also been selected.
Pagels has omitted DeMbare defensive pillar Patson Jaure and Ocean Mushure who were given a run in Egypt.
“I think the players have done well on this call to the national team training but to tell how they will do in future with the national team is something else.
“For now we have to wait and go to Zambia for an international match to see what they can do.
“International matches are different from Premiership matches. We still need to play an international match to see how they will come up,” he said.
The Warriors, Pagels said, should aim for a positive result as he try to build a squad for the Cosafa and African Nations Championships matches that are coming later this year.
“The emphasis when going to Zambia is that we want to win every match but then should also play our style of football which is short passing game.
“I expect some of these players to achieve a lot when we play Zambia,” he said. Pagels said he will continue to bring new players to his squad and said the door was still open.
“The problem is that we wanted to go into this camp with 27 players but we only have 18 now.
“We can only go to Zambia with two players from each club and that means some players are out but that does not mean they are out forever.
“It’s only for this match,” said Pagels.
Warriors squad
Goalkeepers: Maxwell Nyamupangedengu (Harare City) Liberty Chirava (Chicken Inn)
Defenders: Hardlife Zvirekwi (CAPS United) Augustine Mbara (Dynamos), Felix Chindungwe (Chicken Inn), Eric Chipeta (Hwange); Godfrey Moyo (Motor Action), Kelvin Moyo (FC Platinum)
Midfielders: Nicholas Guyo (Monomotapa), Silas Songani (Harare City), Ronald Chitiyo (Monomotapa), Masimba Mambare (Highlanders) Devon Chafa (Dynamos) Nicholas Alifandika (Black Mambas)
Strikers: Nelson Maziwisa(FC Platinum), Tawanda Nyamandwe (CAPS United), Prosper Matizanadzo (Buffaloes) Last Chibwiro Black Mambas).
Online Reporter