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nation due to a shambolic travel arrangement.
Zifa, who had secured only 25 tickets by yesterday afternoon, had to slash down their 33-member delegation and there were further complexities on their connection flight from Dakar to Conakry where they could only be able to get 14 seats.
As a result, the Warriors technical team was instructed after the afternoon training session, that they should trim the squad to only 12 players, who would be accompanied by the head coach only and the team doctor.
Pagels had 18 players in camp and indications are that he would be forced to sacrifice those not fully fit with the likes of Knowledge Musona and Ovidy Karuru, who have knocks, likely to be left behind.
Musona suffered a back injury during training on Thursday and yesterday sat out of the afternoon practice while Karuru has not fully shaken off an ankle problem.
Zimbabwe were initially scheduled to leave on Thursday afternoon but after encountering problems in securing enough funds for air-tickets, the Warriors were now expected depart early in the morning today in an 19-hour trip that will only see them arriving in Guinea around 9:15pm this evening.
That means they will not get time for a proper practice session and to have a feel of the match venue ahead of tomorrow’s 7:00pm (Zimbabwean time) kick off.
“As it stands there are only 14 tickets that have been confirmed from here to Guinea and back,” sources said as the official communications lines were closed by Zifa.
“The rest of the tickets can take the people as far as Senegal and the problem is that it is not guaranteed that if the whole delegation leaves at once we will be all able to get connecting flights from Dakar to Conakry because, from the look of things, it appears the flights are fully booked.
“So due to the fact that we risk being banned from international football if we don’t fulfil the fixture, Zifa has told the coaches to trim the squad down to 12 players.
“That is the scenario but they are still weighing the options and debating whether it is worth the risk to take everyone on board.”
However, Zifa communications manager, Xolisani Gwesela, yesterday maintained that the revised delegation of 25 (including all players) will leave at 2:10am this morning aboard a Kenya Airways flight.
They will go through Nairobi and then arrive in Dakar at 3:30pm.
They will then get another connecting flight at 7:20pm and arrive in Guinea at 9:15pm.
“I can confirm that the delegation is definitely going. The tickets have been issued and the welfare of the team has been guaranteed,” said Gwesela.
The problem is that there are no guarantees that the other 11 members of the delegation can have their tickets from Dakar to Conakry confirmed.
Given that both Senegal and Guinea are French-speaking countries, some members of the Warriors’ delegation were concerned that taking the 25-member delegation, without confirmation that everyone would be able to leave Dakar in time for the match in Conakry, was too huge a gamble.
Travel in West Africa is usually chaotic and even those, whose flight from Dakar to Conakry is confirmed, can find themselves experiencing a lot of problems, including delays, as the flights are not guaranteed that they will depart and arrive in time for the match.
Bad weather at airports can also lead to delays and, leaving everything to the last minute as Zifa have done, could see the Warriors experiencing serious problems in this journey to Conakry.
Questions are rightly being asked why Zifa have left it this late, for them to make travel arrangements, for a fixture they knew very well in advance since last year.
The technical team was expected to meet Zifa officials again last night to find ways to go round their problems.
Indications were that Zimbabwe will leave behind the rest of the technical team that also includes assistant coaches Peter Ndlovu, Lloyd Mutasa and goalkeepers’ trainer Nkululeko Dhlamini.
There will also be no place for stand-in team manager Patrick Mutesva, head of delegation Benedict Moyo, Lovemore Marange, medic Farai Muguwu, kit manager Joshua Khumalo and the two chefs.
With such a depleted delegation, the Warriors now have many obstacles to overcome when they face the hosts at the Stade du 28 September, in Conakry tomorrow.
Firstly, they have to put behind them the disappointing show in last week’s home game against Egypt and then the effects of the shambolic travel arrangements which almost scuppered the trip to the West African nation.
Pagels will be praying that his lads will not succumb to jet lag and the change of weather conditions in the hot and humid West African conditions.
The Warriors, who are coming from a disappointing 4-2 home defeat to Egypt, will also find Guinea in high spirits following their 6-1 destruction of neighbours Mozambique last Sunday.
Sadio Diallo and Mohamed Lamine Yattare both scored braces while the duo of Ibrahim Traore and Mohamed Diarra added a goal each.
Guinea have three wins to one in their six previous meetings with Zimbabwe, including a 1-0 success in the reverse fixture in Harare last June.
Zimbabwe are bottom of Group G with a single point from four games while Guinea still have an outside chance to force the race to the wire on second position with seven points.
They, however, trail leaders Egypt by five points with two games remaining and will be hoping for a win against the Warriors while the Pharaohs stumble in Maputo.
Zimbabwe Squad:
Goalkeepers: Washington Arubi (Pretoria University), Maxwell Nyamupangedengu (Harare City)
Defenders: Hardlife Zvirekwi (CAPS United), Ocean Mushure (Dynamos), Felix Chindungwe (Chicken Inn), Eric Chipeta (Hwange), Partson Jaure (Dynamos), Lincolin Zvasiya (Kaizer Chiefs)
Midfieldrs: Ovidy Karuru (OH Leuven), Archford Gutu (Kalmar FC), Silas Songani (Harare City), Tafadzwa Rusike (Ajax Cape Town), Denver Mukamba (Wits University), Masimba Mambare (Highlanders), Devon Chafa (Dynamos)
Strikers: Cuthbert Malajila (Maritzburg United), Knowledge Musona (Augsburg), Roderick Mutuma (Bloemfontein Celtic)
Guinea Squad:
Goalkeepers: Aboubacar Camara (Alcoyano, Spain), Abdoul Aziz Keita (Horoya)
Defenders: Thierno Bah (Al Taawon, Saudi Arabia), Ibrahima Diallo (Angers, France), Oumar Kalabane (Qalaba, Azerbaijan), Mamoudou Mara (Arles-Avignon, France), Florentin Pogba (Sedan, France), Issiaga Sylla (Toulouse, France), Kamil Zayatte (Istanbul Belediyespor, Turkey)
Midfielders: Aboubacar Camara (Gafsa, Tunisia), Lanfia Camara (White Star Woluwe, Belgium), Ibrahima Conté (Zulte-Waregem, Belgium), Sadio Diallo (Stade Rennais, France), Mohamed Diarra (Odense, Denmark)
Forwards: Alhassane Bangoura (Rayo Vallecano, Spain), Abdoul Razzagui Camara (PAOK Salonique, Greece), Salim Cissé (Académica Coimbra, Portugal), Mathias Pogba (Crewe Alexandra, England), Seydouba Soumah (Slovan Bratislava, Slovakia), Ibrahima Traoré (Stuttgart, Germany), Mohamed Yattara (Troyes, France)
Online Reporter