ZIMBABWE Warriors coach Marian Marinica has voiced profound frustration after a late ruling by Fifa allowed European clubs to retain their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon)-bound players for an extra week.
The decision mandates the release of players only after December 15, a mere six days before the continental showpiece kicks off in Morocco on December 21.
This unexpected development has severely curtailed the Warriors’ preparation window and forced the technical team to tear up their carefully laid-out plans, including crucial international friendly matches.
Marinica, who has been working diligently with a predominantly local-based contingent since the start of the week, now faces a race against time to integrate his foreign-based stars.
Fortunately for the coach, the South African league is currently on a break, allowing players based there to join the camp, alongside early arrivals like captain Marvelous Nakamba, Alec Mudimu and Macauley Bonne.
However, the late arrival of key players like Marshall Munetsi (Wolves), Tawanda Chirewa (Wolves), Andy Rinomhota (Reading), Jordan Zemura (Udinese, Italy), and Munashe Garan’anga (FC Copenhagen, Denmark), among others, due to the Fifa-stipulated dates, has created significant headaches.
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Marinica did not hide his disappointment over the delayed release, which he feels will leave insufficient time for full tactical and fitness work with the final group.
“In a way, it’s a little bit difficult now. It seems with the new set-up in terms of Fifa allowing us to get the players on December15,” Marinica said, emphasising the challenge.
“We’re supposed to get some players very soon. Now things like being a little bit pushed back, we are not sure what exactly is going to happen unfortunately, but it is what it is, we have to move on and at the moment everything goes well for the stage we are.”
The coach revealed that the preparation schedule had been completely upended, forcing a comprehensive reassessment of the camp structure and the abandonment of much-anticipated warm-up games.
“It caught us obviously by surprise. We had plans, even we’re considering to play some matches, some friendly matches,” the coach lamented.
“We had some potential discussion with maybe playing Senegal, maybe playing Uganda and some other teams...
“Even Mozambique was talking about something maybe to play some friendly matches in Morocco once we get there, but at the moment everything has to be reassessed.”
The delay, driven by “fruitful consultations” between Fifa and Caf to lessen the impact on European clubs, has now placed the Warriors’ preparation for Group B—where they face formidable opponents like South Africa, Egypt and Angola—in serious jeopardy.
Despite the logistical hurdles, Marinica remains confident in the quality and commitment of his current crop of players, noting their hard-working nature.
“Yes, the players are responding very well, very hard working. We had two extra players that came from abroad, which actually was very good because we have a chance to assess them as well, like we assess the local players,” he confirmed.
He stressed that regardless of the truncated preparation time, the Warriors should rise to the challenge of competing at the highest level.
“Well, regardless, we have to compete at that level because that’s the level we qualified.
“So if we didn’t qualify for that level, probably, you know, it would be unrealistic to expect to compete at that level, so we qualify,” Marinica stated assertively.
The coach noted that the current camp with local players is invaluable for building future squads, even if some don’t make the final Afcon roster.
“Here, at least we have this group of local players, even some of them let’s say may not be picked into the 28, but at least we work with them.
“They’re fantastic and we work with them for future. We can work with them for March, we can work for them for Cosafa, Chan and all the other things. So I think it’s a benefit for everyone to keep training...”
Marinica also touched on the need to restore national confidence after the disappointment of failing to qualify for the World Cup.
“It was obviously a setback, the failure to qualify for the World Cup and other things. But that’s our job—to make it better and to give hope to everyone behind us, to give hope to the nation that we’ll be able to move on and try to achieve things that haven’t been achieved before.”
The coach’s final selection criteria will prioritise fitness and endurance, stating he needs players capable of handling the demands of a high-intensity tournament.
He assured that a thorough assessment will be done before naming the final 28-man squad as they aim to progress to the next stage of the Afcon for the first time in the country’s history.