Warriors interim coach Rahman Gumbo yesterday declared he would be going all out for an outright win in next Wednesdays 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier away to the Swallows of Burundi.
Gumbos preparations received a boost yesterday after the arrival of England-based Plymouth Argyle left-back Onisimor Bhasera who became the latest foreign-based player to go into camp after jetting in on Wednesday evening.
Bhasera, who is making a return to the national side after a lengthy absence though injury, was in top form for Argyle in their 4-0 away win over Accrington Stanley on Saturday which lifted them to fourth from the bottom on the log and closer to avoid the drop out of the Football League.
The arrival of Bhasera increased the number of players who are now in camp to 12.
Archford Gutu, who is based in Sweden, joined the rest of the team in the afternoon session at Rufaro while Poland-based defender Dickson Choto and Russia-based striker Musa Mguni will only arrive today.
Locally-based players dominate the numbers currently in camp with players such as Marlon Jani, Godfrey Moyo, Roderick Mutuma, Denver Mukamba, Tapuwa Kumbuyani, George Chigova and Donald Ngoma at yesterdays training sessions.
Kaizer Chiefs Abbas Amidu and the Botswana-based duo of Arnold Chaka and Mandla Sibanda and Bhasera were the only foreign-based players in the morning session before they were joined by Gutu.
Gumbo was, however, undeterred by the absence of the bulk of fellow foreign-based players and declared that he was going for nothing short of victory.
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We need an outright win; there are no two ways about it. We cant go there for a draw, fine a draw wouldnt be that bad, but for starters the best results would be a win to get our campaign on the right track.
Im always attack-minded. I believe in a winning attitude and without taking Burundi for granted because of their ranking, we just have to go there for a positive results, Gumbo said.
Zimbabwe have found it difficult to secure most of their players as the fixture falls on a Fifa date for friendlies, which only obliges clubs to release players two days before the game.
Obviously its a challenge to prepare a team for a short space of time without all the players. However, the good thing is that most of them are playing regularly for their clubs and its just a matter of mixing them up.
The only worry is that some of them might get injured over the weekend and some might pull out, which means we would be left with no choice but to call other players, said Gumbo.
South Africa-based players such as goalkeeper Tapuwa Kapini, Tinashe Nengomasha and Carrington Nyadombo will only be released at the weekend before the day of departure. The Europe-based trio of Knowledge Musona, Noel Kaseke and Vusa Nyoni will fly directly to Burundi on Sunday after featuring for their clubs this weekend.
The former Zimbabwe international and member of the famed Dream Team of the early 90s said they were still doing their homework about their opponents who they still knew very little about.
At the moment we dont know much about our opponents, but I know some of their players, but not much about the team as a whole. We will obviously do our homework before we leave, Gumbo said.
