THE Warriors have been dealt a huge blow with several key players — including skipper Ocean Mushure and rising star forward Talent Chawapiwa — ruled out of the decisive African Nations Championship (Chan) southern zone second round second leg football qualifier against Namibia at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
By Tawanda Tafirenyika
Mushure is battling an injury sustained in Namibia, while Chawapiwa, who has not reported for camp sorting out his passport which is due to expire in December, is reportedly wanted by tomorrow by his new employers in South Africa, Baroka FC. The Warriors technical team was yesterday looking to appoint another captain for the Sunday match.
Chawapiwa was signed by Baroka last week after a dazzling performance for the Warriors at the recent Cosafa Castle Cup .
He went on to represent Zimbabwe on Sunday in Windhoek in the 1-0 loss to Namibia in the Chan first leg as he was yet to formalise his move.
But now his club has requested that he reports for pre-season by tomorrow, a day before the Warriors plunge into battle.
Midfield workhorse Gerald Takwara is also struggling with injury and has not been training together with Mushure.
Denver Mukamba has gone AWOL and team manager Wellington Mupandare said the likelihood of both Mushure and Takwara playing was slim.
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“Their (Mushure and Takwara’s) chances of playing are next to zero. They are not in camp right now. With Talent Chawapiwa, he is wanted by his new club in South Africa on Saturday and Denver Mukamba has not reported for training. We haven’t made contact up to now and we will do with what we have at our disposal,” said Mupandare.
The Caps United trio of Ronald Chitiyo, Abbas Amidu and Moses Muchenje and the How Mine duo of Milton Ncube and Praise Tonha, who had been excused so they could play for their respective teams on Wednesday, attended training yesterday
The Warriors, who lost 1-0 to Namibia in the first leg on Sunday, now need to win by two clear goals to go through to the final qualifying round where they will meet either the Comoros or Lesotho in a battle for the right to play at the finals to be held in Kenya next year.
Zimbabwe have qualified at every edition of the tournament since its inauguration in 2008.
Warriors coach Sunday Chidzambwa was given the mandate to lead the team after lifting a record fifth Cosafa Castle Cup in South Africa recently.
