WARRIORS coach Klaus Dieter Pagels will have a chance to scout for talent when Under-23 teams from the first divisions and lower divisions play in a four-team regional tournament set for Rufaro Stadium on Sunday. REPORT BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Pagels is hoping to get some players from the tournament whom he thinks will be good enough to make the cut in his new-look Warriors squad.
The German mentor, who took over from Rahman Gumbo after he resigned last year following Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify for the 2013 African Cup of Nations finals currently underway in South Africa, is building a new national team.
The Warriors were disbanded by the football federation in the aftermath of the 2-0 defeat to Angola which handed the Palancas Negras a ticket to the continental soccer showcase. Zimbabwe had gone into the decisive encounter carrying a healthy 3-1 lead from the first leg in Harare. The decision to disband the team and start afresh was arrived at following reports of match-fixing in Asiagate as well.
And Pagels has been given the responsibility to build a new team.
“We have organised a regional tournament at Rufaro on Sunday. The tournament will feature four Under-23 teams in the first and lower divisions from the four regions. We want to assemble the best team and we hope to get good players we can fuse with some players in South Africa and Europe. The overall objective is to come up with the best team,” Pagels said yesterday.
The new-look national team is set to play Botswana in an international friendly match at the same venue on February 6 after Zifa failed to arrange a practice match with a North African team.
Pagels had recommended a trip to North Africa for possible friendlies with Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, but the cash-strapped association eventually settled for Botswana who have officially confirmed their interest to play Zimbabwe.
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While the match against the Zebras will be low-key in terms of Pagels’ expectations, it offers him a perfect opportunity to assess his new team ahead of the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Egypt. Zimbabwe has just a single point from their first two matches in Group G against Mozambique and Guinea. The Warriors lie third on the log table with one point and five behind leaders Egypt.
However, Pagels and his assistant Lloyd Mutasa maintain the 2014 World Cup dream is still alive.
