admin
The Warriors are expected to fly out to Egypt via Addis Ababa Ethiopia this afternoon for an African Zone Group qualifier against the vastly experienced North Africans on Tuesday night.
Zimbabwe, third in the group with just a point from their opening two games against Guinea and Mozambique will assume the underdog tag when they take to the battlefield against seven-time African champions Egypt, who lead their pool with six points.
Warriors coach Pagels has had to endure anxious moments in the last two weeks as injuries to some of the players he had initially named in his 18-man side forced him to make more changes than he had anticipated.
But even as injuries stalk his team, Pagels remained optimistic yesterday that the players who will be available for duty by the time the Warriors take to the field on Tuesday, will deliver.
Pagels has surprised many people by placing his faith on rookies, most of whom will be thrown into the deep end for the showdown against the Pharaohs.
Despite losing such players like Quincy Antipas, Simba Sithole and Matthew Rusike through injury, the German coach insisted yesterday that he still had enough ammunition to withstand the challenge of the Egyptians.
The coach also revealed that he would retain talented Bidvest Wits midfielder Denver Mukamba as captain and is counting on the reigning Castle Lager Premiership Soccer Star of the Year to deliver in as much as he is placing his faith on Ajax CapeTown forward Khama Billiat.
After also failing to secure the services of Moroka Swallows defender Gilbert Mapemba because of injury, Pagels had a sigh of relief when he got confirmation that the Dynamos defensive trio of Partson Jaure, Ocean Mushure and Augustine Mbara had returned from Champions League duty with DeMbare without any injury worries.
“All the players from Dynamos are back and in good health and that was the only fear we had. All those players who featured in the match against Botswana know my style of football and I don’t think the injuries will have a big impact as we still have the players from that friendly fit and ready to play a part and can achieve what we want.
“In the midfield we have a lot of players and our defence has no problems and all the players I wanted are in good shape.
“In attack, we have Khama (Billiat), and Musona (Knowledge) but other tactical players such as Denver (Mukamba) and Karuru (Ovidy) are all players who can play attacking football and help upfront,’’ Pagels said.
Pagels will headline the Warriors’ local contingent while skipper Mukamba and South African-based colleagues, who include goalkeeper Washington Arubi, Roderick Mutuma, Tafadzwa Rusike and Billiat will link up with them in Addis Ababa.
The team will then meet with the European trio of midfielders Karuru and Archieford Gutu and chief striker Musona, who are expected to fly directly to Cairo from Germany. Upon arrival in Cairo, the Zimbabwe delegation is expected to take a two-hour road trip under police escort to their base in Alexandria.
Zifa technical director Nelson Matongorere and the association’s head of security Lovemore Marange, are already in Egypt where they have been laying the groundwork for the Warriors camp.
Pagels said he was happy with the feedback he had been constantly getting from Matongorere and Marange.
“Nelson and the security person who are already there have been helpful and have sorted training grounds and everything. It was really important that they went there ahead of us and they have also given us helpful information on the Egyptian team.
“The Egyptians are in camp and on Friday they will play Swaziland in Cairo and we will see if the match would be on television or someone will have to go and watch the match in Cairo’’.
Pagels also said he had been informed that the weather conditions in Egypt had become cooler as winter sets into the North African country. “The weather conditions have dropped since they (advance party) arrived and it’s now between 20 and 21 degree Celsius by day and 8 degrees Celsius by night so we have to be prepared and take warm clothing for training and the match would be played at 7pm,” said Pagels.
The German expatriate, who is also Zifa’s technical adviser paid special tribute to Warriors team manager Shariff Mussa, who he said had worked tirelessly to ensure the senior side’s preparations would not suffer major setbacks. Sharifff (Mussa) did a very good, he did very well and I wouldn’t wish to have his job. I am really happy everything is in order and we are now just going to focus on our training for the next few days without any late arrivals,” said Pagels.
Pagels said his big task now is to tell his players to ignore Egypt’s reputation and tackle them like any other side on the continent.
The Pharaohs have named a strong side that blends youth and experience and includes veterans Wael Gomaa and Mohammed Aboutrika.
Egypt squad:
Goalkeepers: Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed, Ahmed El-Shennawy (Zamalek, Egypt), Sherif Ekramy (Ahly, Egypt)
Defenders: Wael Gomaa, Mohamed Naguib, Ahmed Shedid (Ahly, Egypt), Mahmoud Fathallah, Omar Gaber, Mohamed Abdel-Shafy (Zamalek, Egypt), Adam El-Abd (Brighton, England), Ahmed Saied Okaa (Lierse, Belgium), Ahmed Fathi, Ahmed Elmohamady (Hull City, England).
Midfielders: Ibrahim Salah, Mohamed Ibrahim, Ahmed Eid, Nour El-Sayed (Zamalek, Egypt), Hossam Ashour, Abdallah El-Said (Ahly, Egypt), Hosni Abd-Rabou (Al-Nasr, Saudi Arabia), Mohamed Salah, Mohamed El-Neny (Basel, Switzerland), Amr El-Sulaya (Ismaily, Egypt), Mohamed Abou-Treika (Bani Yas, UAE), Ahmed Hammoudi (Smouha, Egypt).
Strikers: Mohamed Nagy ‘Gedo’ (Hull City, England), Ahmed Gaafar (Zamalek, Egypt), Ahmed Hassan Mekki (Haras El-Hodoud, Egypt), Ahmed Temsah (Dhofar, Oman).
Online Reporter