HARARE Manchester City and Warriors striker Benjani Mwaruwari has been ruled out of the high profile international friendly between Zimbabwe and South Africa's Bafana Bafana in Durban at the end of the month. The game which South Africa will be using part of their World Cup preparations is pencilled in for the night of January 27. ZIFA have been asked to send their strongest team including foreign based players so that the practice match can help South Africa, who would also field their strongest side, to gauge their strength as they fine tune their squad for the global showcase they are hosting in June this year.
But ZIFA yesterday told The Zimbabwean on Sunday that although they would call up foreign based players for the tie Warriors skipper Benjani would not be part of the squad to take on Bafana Bafana. “We are restricting it just to South African based players because we will have problems trying to call up Benjani because this match is not on the FIFA calendar but with those in South Africa it will be possible. We are already writing to the South African clubs seeking their release because we need a full strength squad for the match,” said ZIFA chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya.
Warriors coach Sunday Chidzambwa is expected to call up players like Mamelodi Sundowns skipper Esrom Nyandoro and the Kaizer Chiefs quartet of Zhaimu Jambo, Thomas Svesve, Knowledge Musona and Tinashe Nengomasha. South Africa and Zimbabwe have met in the last two years in African Nations Championship qualifiers and the COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup, with both sides fielding second-string sides.
They have basically stuck to developmental squads in recent years with South Africa at times picking only those fringe players who ply their trade in the Division One League. But this time they will be fielding their strongest squad given that they would be preparing for the World Cup finals. The global soccer showcase bursts into life at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on June 11 when Bafana Bafana face Mexico in a Group A match.
Bafana Bafana, however, begin their training camp in Durban today and Brazilian mentor Carlos Alberto Pereira has already named a 29-man squad that will play Swaziland in a practice match at Chatsworth Stadium in Durban on January 23 before taking on the Warriors on 27 January.
Post published in: Football