Warriors schedule out

THE ZIMBABWE senior national team now know their fixtures schedule at the upcoming four-nation tournament that will be played in Malawi later this month.

Zimbabwe are set to take part in an invitational tournament that will also feature the hosts Malawi, Kenya and Zambia.

The contest will run from March 18 to 26 in Lilongwe amid revelations that Zimbabwe face northern neighbours Zambia on the first day of the competition while Malawi will do battle against Kenya in the other tie.

The Warriors-Malawi game will be played March 23 at 2pm, with the other encounter that will pit Zambia and Kenya, set to follow at 5pm.

The winners will face in the final on March 26 while the losing sides play in the third place play-off ,earlier on the same day.

The pairing is reportedly the same for the Under-20s, whose semi-finals will be played on March 21, with the final and third-place play-offs scheduled for March 24.

The Zifa Normalisation Committee appointed Norman Mapeza as interim Warriors coach.

The former national team captain, replaces Portuguese mentor Baltemar Brito, whose contract was not renewed when it ended at the end of last year.

Mapeza, a former Warriors captain, has had several stints as head coach of the men’s senior national team.

Mapeza has a boundless amount of knowledge on the international football arena, having played for the Dream Team, a team that many Zimbabwe football enthusiasts still remember.

He also did well for Turkish side Galatasaray before excelling as a coach with FC Platinum and the now-defunct Monomotapa.

He took the two local sides to the Caf Champions League.

In the Warriors dugout, Mapeza will be assisted by Ngezi Platinum Stars head coach, Takesure Chiragwi.

Chiragwi now boasts of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League championship title and a Castle Challenge Cup that Ngezi won two weeks before the start of the 2024 season-@FungaiMuderere