Pasuwa worried

Eddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter
THE ZIMBABWE Under-23 soccer team coach Callisto Pasuwa says preparation is everything if they hope to go places in the joint African Championships and the Olympic qualifiers set to begin next month.

The Young Warriors are set to play Swaziland in the first round of the Under-23 African Championships but with just about a month left, Pasuwa is worried that his team could be lagging behind in terms of preparations.

Unlike their opponents who are in the middle of their premiership season, Zimbabwean players have been on the off-season break where no domestic football activity was taking place. To add to Pasuwa’s worry, there are no clear plans for preparations yet.

The Young Warriors played three friendly matches against Botswana, Swaziland and Morocco late last year and met with mixed fortunes.

However, Pasuwa believes his side needs more panel beating before playing their opening match of the African Championship qualifiers away to Swaziland over the weekend of February 20-22.

“Time is no longer on our side if we are to look at the dates for the first game. Of course we played three friendly matches last year but now most of the guys who play in the local league are still off-season. Some of these guys tend to forget that they need to train on their own especially during the festive holidays.

“Then it becomes worrying to note that our opponents are playing football right now, yet we are not even training as a team. We need to get down to business and play as many practice matches as possible.

“The Zifa technical director has said we should go in camp this week, which is good. It will be even better for us if we can get as many practice games as possible with the likes of FC Platinum, who are already preparing for a Caf assignment, and other teams that have begun pre-season training.

“I noticed from our last outing in Morocco that we need to polish up our game. This team had limited time to train together, sometimes one day, when they played those games. So since we are still a new side, we would need more time to work on our game.

“Football has changed these days. Look at the likes of Cape Verde, a very small country but they are now almost regulars at the African Cup of Nations. It’s all about how they prepare for the big tournaments. We need to pull our socks up,” Pasuwa said.

The technical team also need time to have a closer look at the players’ ages so that they work with the right people up to the end of their assignments.

According to Fifa, a player should be born on or after January 1, 1993 to compete at the Olympics and already Takudzwa Chimwemwe and Charles Mukanhairi have been removed from the squad.

Pasuwa recently queried some of the ages of the players included in the Olympic squad and has said they will carry out age tests before the start of the qualifiers through the magnetic Resonance Imaging to flush out age cheats. The coach said the process would need to be carried out urgently so that they will have time to find replacements.

Pasuwa’s wish, however, could be granted as the association is planning to get the players in camp this week to begin preparations for the first leg assignment.

Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela yesterday said the Young Warriors will engage local teams during their preparations while international friendly matches will be sought. Gwesela said the preparations have been affected by lack of resources to fund the team.

“By Monday (today) we should unveil their full programme. We need to make sure that our guys are adequately prepared for international assignments but sometimes we are limited by resources.

“So we continue appealing to the Government and the corporate world to give a helping hand. It’s not a secret (that) Zifa is in financial quagmire and we are calling on Zimbabweans to chip in with whatever form of assistance they can,” said Gwesela.