The announcement that Zimbabwe will play Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia between March 23 and 31 might not have been greeted with much enthusiasm but it means a lot to our Warriors.
The tournament might not have been what we wanted in terms of big name opposition but still, it gives us a starting point in our build up to Afcon 2027 and World Cup 2030.
This is the opportunity for coach Marian Marinica to try all the new players he has been talking to in his Europe merry-go-round and see whether they are good enough for Afcon 2027 qualifiers.
He also had a list of many other players whom he had earmarked for Afcon 2025, but never really got the chance to have a look at them and this is the time to do so.
What the Zimbabwe football family is missing is a Warriors team they can easily identify with and we hope by the end of the friendlies that team will be in place.
There was a time during the Dream Team era that Zimbabweans would guess correctly who is playing in what position and this is exactly what football match goers want their Warriors to be.
Ask Senegalese, Egyptian, South African, Algerian, and Morrocan fans, they can correctly tell you three-quarters of the 23-member squad that their coach will take to the 2026 World Cup.
Surely, the idea is not to win the four-nation tournament but to come up with a strong team that will campaign successfully in both Afcon 2027 and World Cup 2030 qualifiers.
Should we be good enough to win the four nation contest that would come as a bonus and also bring about the added feeling that the future of the Warriors is bright.
On that premise, there is no need at all to call the likes of Tawanda Maswanhise, Tawanda Chirewa, Marshall Munetsi, Jordan Zemura, or Prince Dube, because we already know what they are capable of offering.
In fact, calling these players would be killing the balance of the tournament completely because Zimbabwe would carry too much ammunition that the opposition cannot withstand.
The likes of Maswanhise should only be called after the March 21 to 31 process to be linked with the players identified from the four-nation tournament to make up the Zimbabwe Warriors.
That will be the team we will expect to represent Zimbabwe from then onwards until the end of the Afcon 2027 qualifiers or even World Cup 2030 instead of experimenting with new players in every game.
Our team from Afcon 2025 had a lot of young talent and Marinica's job is not all that difficult but to fill in the void that is being left by our ageing players like Washington Arubi, Marvelous Nakamba, —one or two others — and even Knowledge Musona.
We do not expect any excuses from Marinica should his team fail in Afcon 2027 because there has never been any Warriors coach in history who was accorded the time and freedom to prepare his team like has been done to him.
Moreso, he is only the second coach in history — after Michael Nees — who has been accorded the luxury of travelling around the world to meet the Warriors and forge a relationship.
We plead with those at Zifa to give Marinica the freedom of picking his own players without any pressure because ultimately he is the one who takes responsibility for the performance of his team.
We were among the first to make a call that Marinica should stay on after Afcon 2025 and we will be among the first to call that he be sacked should he fail the simple task that lies at his doorstep.
Our hope is that he will not betray our trust to the extent of failing and falling into the same category of the Zdravko Logarusic's or the Michael Nees'
nFor your views, comments, and suggestions mkariati@gmail.com or WhatsApp on 0773 266 779.