Warriors coach drops friendly plans
ZIFA have claimed that Warriors coach Zdravko Logarusic (pictured) has turned down an offer for the team to play an international friendly as part of preparations for their Fifa 2022 World Cup qualifier against South Africa early next month.
The Warriors return to the World Cup campaign in June after missing out on the previous qualifiers for Russia in 2018, on account of Zifa’s failure to pay former Warriors coach Valinhos his dues on time.
And as they embark on the grand mission to secure a seat at the global showcase for the first time in history, they face seasoned campaigners — South Africa’s Bafana Bafana — in their opening match of the campaign between June 5 and 8.
While in the past, the coach has mourned about ill-preparedness, he is said to have decided against putting his charges through a sparring encounter for fear of exposing them to injuries.
In a statement yesterday, Zifa said they had abandoned plans to look for sparring partners ahead of the clash at the request of the coaches who fear the international friendlies which come shortly before the big match might subject their players to injuries.
The local football mother body released a biting statement yesterday that touched on a number of issues among them the constitutional review process. It was not clear what provoked the anger.
“Zifa is saddled with preparation for the World Cup qualifiers due in June 2021 against South Africa and Ethiopia as well as the senior women matches pencilled for later this year. In the same token, Zifa wishes to inform the nation that it has dropped plans for the Warriors friendly on the advice and request of the technical team which feels the friendly window dates are too close to the qualifiers and may pose challenges such as injuries to key players. The Fifa friendly window has been set a few days before the qualifies. The board has accepted such a request,” the statement read in part.
After the clash against Bafana Bafana on June 5, the Warriors travel to Ethiopia the following week.
The qualifiers resume in September with back-to-back clashes against Ghana in the first week of that month.
The Warriors will then travel to South Africa between October 10 and 12 and wrap up their campaign with a home match against Ethiopia the following week. The top team in the group will progress to the final qualifying round where they join nine other group winners from the continent to play homeand-away over two legs in November.
The five winners will represent Africa at the World Cup finals in Qatar next year
Zifa also said they decided to suspend international youths football tournaments this year in order to focus on building strong boys and girls Under-15 and Under-17 teams.
“The Zifa board has decided not to partake in any international youth tournaments this year, but will rather focus in building future youth national teams by kick-starting both the boys and girls Under-15 and Under-17 provincial youth leagues as well as grassroots football to resume as soon as authorisation is granted by responsible authorities.
“Zifa would like to thank several stakeholders who have supported the association in many different ways and we shall continue defending the game that is loved by so many of our compatriots. We call for a unity of purpose as we are one people with one flag,” Zifa added.