BY MICHAEL MADYIRA
Warriors coach Rahman Gumbo has missed the deadline he was given by the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) to name the squad for the crucial Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Angola.
In their last board meeting two weeks ago, Zifa resolved that Gumbo should submit a list of players by August 15, ironically the day when the association failed to arrange a friendly match for the Warriors.
Zimbabwe host Angola on September 9 before travelling to Luanda for the return leg a month later.
With just three weeks left before the first leg, Zifa had tasked Gumbo to name the squad early to afford them enough time for logistics as well as early requests to foreign clubs to release players.
Gumbo met with the rest of his technical team in Harare last Friday and was still battling to finalise the squad.
He said he needed more time to work on his options and would name the squad tomorrow.
“The best day to talk about the squad would be Monday (tomorrow) and you will surely get it,” said Gumbo.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Zifa appears unperturbed by Gumbo’s failure to meet the deadline.
The association’s board member competitions Benedict Moyo said they would not want to accuse anyone for the delay.
“Obviously we need more time to inform foreign clubs that we want players,” said Moyo.
“Even players themselves need to be advised that they have been called for the national team early to prepare them psychologically for the assignment.
But at the moment, we would not want to criticise Rahman or point fingers at anyone.”
Gumbo has already hinted at including in his team Romania-based forgotten striker Mike Temwanjira.
Zimbabwe’s preparations for the Angola match have already been blighted by chaos with the Warriors last Wednesday being inactive on the Fifa international friendly matches day while Angola played Mozambique.
This was after promises by Zifa that the Warriors would engage a high profile team in a sparring session were fruitless.
