The Sunday Mail
Petros Kausiyo
Sports Editor
AS Zimbabwe’s Warriors look to resume their bid for a place at the Africa Cup of Nations with a huge test of both character and pedigree against African champions Algeria, debate has been raging on how the squad was picked and their lack of preparations.
The Warriors will fly out to Algiers on a chartered plane on Tuesday with their new coach Zdravko “Loga’’ Logarusic finally getting a reality check on the task that is before him.
This comes amid genuine concerns over the Warriors’ preparedness.
It will be the Croat’s first competitive assignment after the Covid-19 pandemic conspired to delay the start of the 54-year-old coach’s romance with the Warriors.
By Loga’s own admission, it will not be an easy task for the Warriors at the Stade du 5 Juillet 1962 against the Desert Foxes who are not only the reigning African champions but are unbeaten in their last 20 matches in all competitions.
Fortunately for the Warriors, they will not have to grapple with a hostile crowd at the imposing stadium as fans will not be allowed in.
But as the Warriors look to try and eke out a result in Algiers and keep their unbeaten Group H start intact, questions have been raised on the side that Loga has assembled in which he has made no less than seven changes to the team that former coach Joey Antipas took to Lusaka in November last year for a famous 2-1 win over Zambia.
A brutal assessment of the squad which the Croat picked exposed some inconsistencies on the part of the coach, who last month insisted he would only focus on players he “had assessed on television during the lockdown, while they played for their different clubs’’.
Among the questions raised given the pedigree of the assignment at hand are the controversial inclusions of unattached midfielder Ovidy Karuru, ex-CAPS United winger Tafadzwa Rusike who is now playing in Zambia and unheralded Tendai Jirira who plies his trade in the United States.
United Kingdom-based David Moyo, who is on the books of Hamilton Academical and has scored three goals in 29 appearances, is another controversial inclusion as is Martin Mapisa who is yet to feature for Zamora in Spain.
Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association chairman Bheki Nyoni said the controversy surrounding the Warriors’ selection was a consequence of the absence of a selection system for national teams.
Nyoni said the problems related to the lack of a system had cascaded from the Warriors to the junior national teams as well as the Women’s game.
He observed that ZIFA had spurned a chance to give Loga a platform to assess the players at his disposal following the chaotic manner the international friendly against Malawi was arranged.
“The opportunity lost for the Malawi game will be regretted forever in this campaign. This could have given the coach time to assess the players and for them to understand him.
“The selection of players is squarely the coach’s prerogative but it seems we don’t have a clear selection system. The expectation could be those active need to be given opportunities. I know Karuru has done very well for the Warriors previously but l doubt if he is mentally ready for these games as he is pondering his future.
“King Nadolo is the only player earmarked for CHAN who has made it, so can one player be said to be a sign of CHAN preparations? Why not five or more local players then. Having said that let’s give the coach a chance as we are facing the best team in Africa,’’ Nyoni said.
South Africa-based Zimbabwean journalist Lovemore Moyo, who has spent the last 13 years writing on football for Kick Off with a specific bias on this country’s nationals, felt the Warriors’ approach to Thursday’s game bordered on underestimating Algeria’s strength and the damage the Desert Foxes might inflict on them.
“In these bizarre and trying times it is essential to employ the rationale of merit instead of having selections based on ‘connections’ and emotions.
“There is absolutely no need to consider local players for the obvious reason that they haven’t played any competitive football for a year especially ahead of a game against the champions of Africa — Algeria — whose players have all been active across Europe and the Middle East.
“Non-call up of local players shouldn’t be an argument but rather a case closed based on reality so King Nadolo shouldn’t be anywhere close to this team.
“The selection of players to the Warriors should never be as confusing and chaotic as it tends to be when it comes to matters related to the senior national team which just last month had Tafadzwa Rusike called up despite carrying the weight of a sumo wrestler.
“It puzzles why he has been called up again and will have to compete in an opposition midfield with Riyad Mahrez,’’ Moyo said.
He questioned the selection criteria.
“Is enough background ever done on players before they are even called up or it is the weird case of sentiments applied?
“Is Tatenda Mkuruva worth the effort just because he is playing in what is essentially an amateur (and partly semi-professional) league in the USA.
“That this third-tier league only came into existence last year with complicated systems should inform many about the standards of the game in the US outside of Major League football.
“After all, Mkuruva is an average goalkeeper as well. By playing third tier league football for a club whose name sounds suspiciously like a baseball franchise, a certain Tendai Jirira can now walk into the Warriors squad?
“Haven’t the Warriors selectors learnt from the previous occasions when they handed call-ups to all these players plying their trade in the lower divisions of American soccer?
“Remember what happened with Lucky Mkhosana. Couldn’t Jirira have at least been tried out in a friendly game or the COSAFA Cup instead of handing him a call-up against a squad with players in leagues with teams that he only probably supports.
“Qualifiers against Algeria are not for experiments. Is Ovidy Karuru so good that he can still be called up even when he is clubless following his release by modest Stellenbosch where he couldn’t even last a year?
“Yet after scoring 13 goals and contesting for the Golden Boot award in South Africa last season Knox Mutizwa is still ignored.
“Mutizwa was among Zimbabwe’s top three performers in the PSL in the campaign which was concluded in the ‘bubble’ but is not good enough for a national team that calls up clubless players. This is criminal, this is demonic,’’ Moyo said.
Ngezi Platinum coach Rodwell Dhlakama noted with concern that the Warriors resembled a collection of names more than looking like a team.
“The squad in terms of names is balanced but this team is a completely new team by any measure. We want to see how they are going to gel but I can’t see why they are giving Tafadzwa Rusike and Jimmy Dzingai space in the squad and I don’t think it is important to call players who were not tested at this level because this is not a friendly game.
“What is key is to get players who are key and can do the job not this enlarged squad because this is not the time to experiment. I see that there is no experience again between the posts and I am not sure if the goalkeepers are the right choices. Frankly, I don’t think so,’’ Dhlakama said.
