ZIMBABWE international midfielder Willard Katsande is soaring with confidence ahead of the 2017 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) football qualifier against the Flames of Malawi at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on Saturday, despite the team training just one day before departure.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
The Warriors are set to fly out to Blantyre this afternoon.
The Kaizer Chiefs anchorman is set to be installed captain of the side that will face the Flames of Malawi.
The Warriors — with a mixture of foreign and home-based players — met for the first time at Rufaro Stadium yesterday to prepare for the showdown against Malawi.
And the Warriors anchorman believes lessons drawn from the disappointment of failing to qualify for Afcon finals since 2006 has given them the resolve. Katsande, who was part of the team that failed to qualify for the 2015 Afcon after a shock 3-2 defeat on aggregate to lowly Tanzania, the last time he turned out for the team, said that disappointment has given them steel.
He also spoke of the disappointment of throwing away a 3-1 lead from the first leg in Harare to fall 2-0 in Angola that ended their interest in the tournament held in South Africa and the shoddy preparations which saw the team coming together just one day before leaving for Malawi.
“If you want to succeed you have to be prepared to face challenges and we have learnt our lessons from the past failures. We all learn from mistakes and if you face adversity you get the strength to do well and we want to correct all those mistakes from the past. It was disappointing the last time when we lost to Tanzania and failed to qualify.
“The experience in Angola is also disappointing, but all this has given us the hunger. We know Malawi will be at home and have the advantage of home support so we need to be cautious. We need to avoid an open game, be defensive and try to unsettle them. We didn’t have much training time together, but we have to adapt like professionals and come from Malawi with a good result. I think we are in great shape, I have been training on my own to keep in shape because we knew about this game,” said Katsande. Pasuwa will, however, be without in-form Sweden-based striker Nyasha Mushekwi, who indicated he was no longer able to come after pulling a muscle on Sunday in his team’s 1-1 draw against Malmo FF.
The Zimbabwean hitman has scored an incredible 10 goals in 11 matches for his Swedish club Djurgardens.
Pasuwa will also be without Mathew Rusike, who did not report for the morning training session yesterday. The duo was last night replaced with SuperSport United striker Kingston Nkhata.
Pasuwa, however, has on paper a strong squad that can pull off a good result against the Flames notwithstanding the challenges they are facing in the build-up to the match.
With such players like Knowledge Musona, Khama Billiat, Marvellous Nakamba, Kuda Mahachi and Cuthbert Malajila, Pasuwa has perhaps the deadliest attack he has ever assembled.Malawi though have been preparing for this match for nearly a month and on Monday played against Egypt in an international friendly which ended in a 2-1 losing cause.
Warriors squad: Bernard Donovan, Tatenda Mukuruva, Blessing Moyo, Patson Jaure, Eric Chipeta, Teenage Hadebe, Justin Jangano, Ronald Pfumbidzai, Danny Phiri, Willard Katsande, Gerald Takwara, Wisdom Mutasa, Khama Billiat, Kudakwashe Mahachi, Marvelous Nakamba, Knowledge Musona, Cuthbert Malajila, Kingston Nkhata
