The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Reporter
THE nation’s flagship football team — the Warriors — will be in a sink or swim situation when they face Congo Brazzaville in the Africa Cup of Nations Group G final qualifier next month and fans in Manicaland believe their homeboy Willard Katsande has outlived his sell by date for the senior men’s national squad.
The Warriors team manager Wellington Mpandare, who could neither confirm nor deny whether they have already indeed ruled the veteran Kaizer Chiefs midfielder out of the match against Congon Brazzaville, told Post Sport that Katsande is no longer in the class of elite national team players that would gain automatic inclusion.
Mpandare said they were finalising their squad today (Friday) and the announcement of the players on that list has been postponed to next week after Zifa officials return from a Caf workshop in South Africa.
Word in domestic football circles has it that the Warriors’ technical team led by coach Sunday Chidzambwa has been forced to drop former captain Willard Katsande from the squad ahead of the match against Congo Brazzaville and fans in the eastern province — where Katsande traces the roots of his career agree.
“I am sure you are aware that Willard Katsande is now a fringe player for the national team. He went away for quite some time and came back to play a single match, which some believe he did not play well. This has also been worsened by his performance at his club where he has been left out of the starting line-up in some crucial matches.
“I cannot say he is in or out of the squad that we are going to announce next week but truth be told he is no longer in that class of players who could afford not to play at his club and still command a first team place for the national team.
“We have players like Knowledge Musona who could be sidelined at their clubs for different reasons and when called for national team he could come and deliver,” said Mpandare.
The announcement of the list of players to be called for camp for the match slated for March 12, which was scheduled for this week, will be made next week upon the return of Zifa officials.
Chidzambwa was expected to name the provisional squad this week for the crucial match set for the National Sports Stadium on March 12, but postponed the announcement to next week due to the absence of top Zifa officials who are away in South Africa.
However, media speculation has it that Katsande, who bounced back into the Warriors fold in the team’s penultimate Group G Afcon qualifier away to Liberia – to end his two-year self-induced exile – is not part of the 30-man provisional squad for the match against Brazzaville.
Chipinge based Warriors’ fan Trust Dube said it is time up for Katsande.
“I think Willard Katsande has seen his better days for the national team. Selectors must now give others a chance. We have a lot of talented players that can fit in that squad,” he said.
Those close to Warriors selection processes say that Chidzambwa is not convinced by the gritty midfielder’s display away in Monrovia where the Warriors fell 1-0.
Katsande’s recent poor form for his South African Premier Soccer League side Kaizer Chiefs had made matters worse for the former Highway FC player.
Katsande called time on his international career upon the team’s return from the Afcon finals in Gabon two years ago. But he later had a change of heart and was subsequently picked by Chidzambwa for the trip to Liberia, where the Warriors needed to avoid a defeat to reach the Afcon finals in Egypt this July.
The 33-year-old combative midfielder has been struggling for form at Chiefs of late and reports in South Africa suggest his future at the club is on the edge.
He started on the bench for the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates a fortnight ago, and did not make the final 18 squad for the team against third-tier club Magic FC in a cup match at the weekend.
England-based defender Tendayi Darikwa has also returned after serving his suspension, which saw him missing the trip to Monrovia.
