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NewsDay

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Zifa, govt in Warriors discord

Sport
ZIFA and the Sport ministry are on a collision course after it emerged yesterday that the two were organising matches for the Warriors on the same dates.

ZIFA and the Sport ministry are on a collision course after it emerged yesterday that the two were organising matches for the Warriors on the same dates.

BY HENRY MHARA

The Sports ministry wants the Warriors to play a friendly football match against a Barcelona legends side during the next Fifa international break, which falls on the weekends of November 6-14.

Preparations for the match, according to the ministry, are at an advanced stage, and one of the Barcelona legends, Rivaldo, was in the country last week to promote the game.

No dates have been fixed for the match, with the government last week only pronouncing that the exhibition match would be played during the November international break.

However, Zifa has also confirmed two friendly matches for the Warriors on the same dates.

Zifa spokesperson and competitions manager Xolisani Gwesela yesterday said the senior men’s team would play Lesotho and Namibia in two friendly matches during the November break.

The Warriors are scheduled to play Lesotho on November 8 in Maseru, before connecting to Windhoek to play Namibia three days later.

Gwesela said the two matches would be part of the team’s preparations for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers. “We are playing Lesotho and Namibia during the November break in a space of three days. We are travelling to Lesotho for a game on the 8th and then connect to Namibia where we play on the 11th. The two matches have been confirmed,” Gwesela told NewsDay Sport yesterday.

“The association is seized with ensuring that the national team plays regularly in preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in early 2018. Namibia are a competitive team and we are certain that the players and the coaches will benefit a lot from playing the Brave Warriors.”

About the Barcelona legends game, Gwesela said: “I can’t comment on that match. We are not the ones organising it and the best person to ask would be the permanent secretary in the (Sports) ministry. What I can confirm from the Zifa side is that the Warriors will play against Lesotho and Namibia during the November break.”

Normally, it’s Zifa which organises matches for the Warriors.

Gwesela said they would soon announce the coach to take charge of the team for the two friendly matches.

The Lesotho date would be the first time a full complement of the Warriors players would be regrouping since their 3-0 win over Liberia on June 11 in an opening 2019 Afcon Group G qualifier at the National Sports Stadium.

Since then, a largely locally-based squad played in and won the Cosafa Cup in South Africa in July.

In the same month, the locally-based Warriors were booted out of the African Nations Championship qualifiers by Namibia, who are using the friendly against Zimbabwe to prepare for the finals.

The Warriors’ next competitive fixture is an Afcon Group G qualifier away to Congo in March, where another win could immensely boost their chances of qualifying for the tournament.