WARRIORS interim coach Norman Mapeza, appears to doubt Burnley defender, Tendai Darikwa, whom he has not called for camp, despite the England-based player saying he was available for the team preparing for the 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia in Harare next weekend.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
United Kingdom-based, Marshall Gore — who has been playing the intermediary role — has said the Burnley defender has committed himself to playing for the Warriors.
The 27-year-old Darikwa, born in England to Zimbabwean parents, has never played for the Warriors.
Gore said though Darikwa might not be able to play in the opening qualifying match against Liberia on June 11, as he holds a British passport, he would still like to travel to the country to get to know his teammates better, while his documentation is being processed.
“The latest is that after a lot of discussions, I can reveal that Darikwa has committed himself to playing for Zimbabwe and that is very positive news indeed. A lot has been said and written about his situation, but he is a professional and we had to talk to him at that level and he has told me that he has made his decision and wants to play for Zimbabwe. All he is waiting for is a call from the technical team. Even if he is not going to play against Liberia, he is willing to travel and be together with his team mates for the match so that he knows them better,” Gore was quoted saying.
He added that he was ready to buy a ticket for Darikwa to fly to Harare.
However, when contacted yesterday on whether they had called up the player, Mapeza was not forthcoming, neither was team manager, Wellington Mupandare.
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Sources in the camp though suggest Mapeza, who also contentiously omitted a number of senior players, who took part in the last campaign in Gabon, such as former skipper Willard Katsande, Nyasha Mushekwi, Cuthbert Malajila and Mathew Rusike, does not fancy Darikwa and is not too keen to consider the fullback and some highly-rated stars like Kundai Benyu, who plays for Ipswich Town.
Questions are now being raised as to how Zimbabwe, desperate to beef up the team with a foreign flavour to enable it to compete at the top level, can afford the luxury of overlooking a player of Darikwa’s calibre given that he has committed himself to playing for the Warriors.
Although the Warriors qualified for the finals in Gabon, they went on to display a lacklustre show that saw them exiting the tournament on the first round with one of their glaring weakness being a lack of international exposure as most Zimbabwean players ply their trade at lowly leagues in Africa.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe international forward, Khama Billiat, is confident of shaking off an injury that sidelined him from Mamelodi Sundown’s clash against Esperance of Tunisia on Friday night.
Sundowns believe Billiat is injured and might not be able to play a part in the Warriors’ clash against Liberia, although they have released the player. Billiat, however, is hopeful of recovering in time for the match next weekend. The Warriors medical team has also requested Billiat to bring his medical report, so they can assess him.
Chief striker, Knowledge Musona, arrived in Harare on Saturday night and joined others in camp ahead of the clash.
Team manager, Mupandare, said training will resume this afternoon to allow players from FC Platinum and Highlanders, who were involved in league games yesterday, time to make the trip to Harare.
Supersport United left back Onismo Bhasera is only expected in camp on Wednesday after playing for his club, which is away in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is the only late arrival, with Teenage Hadebe, who has been attending to a bereavement, expected to be part of the squad that will resume training this afternoon.
