Tadious Manyepo

Zimpapers Sports Hub

AFTER weeks of anxiety and speculation, Zimbabwe coach Marian “Mario’’ Marinica is today expected to set the tone for the Warriors’ 2025 Africa Cup of Nations campaign when he names his final 28-man squad.

Despite the limited time, Marinica has been hard at work assessing both local and foreign players in the Warriors training camp that has been done behind closed doors.

Zimbabwe are in Group B at the biennial tournament which gets underway on December 21 in Morocco and will run until January 18 next year.

The Romanian gaffer’s programme, just like most of the African coaches, was affected after FIFA back-tracked on their earlier stance and confirmed that clubs would now only be mandated to release players for the AFCON on December 15.

Until the new development was announced last week, Marinica was expecting to assemble all 56 players he had called for camp at one go before trimming them to the travelling 28.

But he was then forced to work with just 42 players, who are now down to 32, after most of the European-based players remained with their clubs.

The 32 players in camp got the last chance to impress Marinica, who hasn’t made it a secret that he wants his players to be “fast and very fast” with and without the ball.

And they will get to know who has caught the eye of the former Malawi and Liberia gaffer.

The Warriors will begin their North African sojourn with a clash against Egypt, before meeting COSAFA rivals Angola and South Africa respectively.

Marinica was by late last night still to ascertain the extent of injuries suffered by Wolves utility Marshal Munetsi and Udinese fullback Jordan Zemura.

The pair is grounded right now with uncertainty hovering above their heads on whether they will be up and available for the AFCON in the next 10 days.

It will be interesting to see whether Marinica will name them in his 28-man team but that will largely depend on the medical reports he will get from the duo’s respective clubs.

While expressing satisfaction over the manner in which his Warriors have been fighting to nail places in the team, Marinica said the late decision on player release agreements did affect him in a huge way.

“To be honest, it’s very tough. What actually happened with CAF is really, really tough. Because, let’s put it this way. Let me give you the programme of what will happen.

“We travel on the 16th. We’ll be arriving on the 17th, when actually CAF says that the camp starts,” said Marinica.

“That means on the 16th and 17th, you can’t do any training sessions. On the 18th, you’ll do a recovery session, you see and a few days later the games start.

“But that is what’s on the ground. We have to adjust and be able to work very hard to try and be at our best.”

Marinica has been mandated to take Zimbabwe through the group stages, which, if he succeeds, will be their first time to do so in six attempts.

But the ex-Liberia mentor prides himself for managing to take Malawi through to the second round in only his AFCON debut in Cameroon in 2022.

He is the first coach to be at the helm of Zimbabwe while boasting the experience of playing beyond the group stage at the tournament.

Captain Marvelous Nakamba has since backed Marinica while saluting the Government for their support of the Warriors.

“I would like to say to our Government, thank you for recognising sport as a tool for unity, pride and opportunity,” said Nakamba.

“We acknowledge the renewed effort to build a professional and competitive football environment.

“To our sponsors, your investment fuelled our preparation and strengthened our belief.

“And to the people of Zimbabwe, your passion is our motivation. You are the reason why we fight. As players, we understand the responsibility we carry. We go to Morocco with humility, discipline and determination. We are not travelling as tourists.

“We are travelling as competitors.”

Nakamba insisted that the Warriors would not be intimidated by the profiles of their opponents who include seven-time champions Egypt and 1996 winners Bafana Bafana.

“We will respect every opponent but we will not fear anyone. We cannot fight the cause but we can promise we will fight.

“We can promise strength. We can promise unity.

“We will give everything for the base and for the flag that raised us. Thank you for your trust, your belief and your support.

“We carry your hopes to Morocco and we aim to make the nation proud,” added Nakamba.

With Marinica keeping his cards close to his chest, it was not immediately clear whether there will be any major shocks and heartbreaks.

But what seems imminent is that the coach will be taking a blend of youth and experience to Morocco.