Young Warriors seek change of fortunes at Cosafa

ZIMBABWE’S Under- 17 national soccer team head to Mauritius for the Cosafa under 17 Championships today thinking of making it past the group stages on their minds despite the short preparation period they had.

The tournament is scheduled to run between 19 and 29 July in the island nation. The Young Warriors had a woeful performance at the competition last year as they came back without a victory and only scored a single goal.

The side was under the tutelage of Moses Chunga with current head coach Tafadzwa Mashiri his assistant. This time around, Mashiri said they are hoping for a change of fortunes given the added importance of the tournament as the winner will represent the region at the 2019 Total Under 17 Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Tanzania.

“We are wearing a brave face, despite the limited time we have had to prepare for the games; we will go there aspiring to better our performance in the previous edition. We want to go there and do our best, hoping to make it to the knockout stage.

“We are working hard to get the players into the right physical condition. The good thing is that they are technically sound, so we will continue working on their fitness. There has been a lot of improvement already and there is more to come from the boys,” he told Zifa’s official website.

Mashiri trimmed his squad to 19 players from the 50 that had been initially called up.

This year the Young Warriors have been placed in Group C together with Angola, Malawi and Swaziland.

Last year Zimbabwe finished bottom of Group A last year after falling to Malawi (0-5), Mauritius (1-0) and got their consolation goal from captain, Tinotendaishe Benza in an encounter against Botswana which they lost 2-1.

Cosafa said given the additional importance of the regional event in 2018, the field for the finals has been expanded to a record 12 teams, up from eight in the previous two editions.

Zimbabwe has qualified for the African Under-17 Championships on four previous occasions, more than any other side from the region. All of those came between 1997 and 2009, when they exited in the group stages on all four occasions.

Zimbabwe have not entered the qualifiers for the continental competition in the last four editions but returned to compete in the Cosafa competition in 2017.

Young Warriors squad Goalkeepers:Malcolm Louis Tendayi Mapondera, Gerald Munashe Sibanda

Defenders: Cossam Junior Bandason, Blessed Tafadzwa Dzingai, Malvern Soko, Macdonald Keith Tawanda, Malvern Hativagoni

Midfielders: Onward Munashe Manyeruke, Ethan Simbarashe Moyo, John Hazem Bonomali, Simbarashe Terrence Madzivire, Wesley Tinotenda Chitsumba, Sibusiso Ishmael Moyo ,Oscar Bhebhe

Strikers: Tapiwa Mandinyenya, Tinotenda Faber Munengami, Thandolwenkosi Methuseli Ngwenya, Zubair Ali, Tanaka Element Matenga,