Zimbabwe’s scheduled clash with Swaziland in an African Under-23 Championships qualifier has been cancelled after the Swazis withdrew from the tournament. Mhlanga, 21, has over the last two seasons established himself as one of the Castle Lager Premiership’s most promising central defenders.
The former Zimbabwe Under-20 star had a stellar campaign at Chicken Inn last year and many had hoped he would make the natural progression to the Under-23 team. Pasuwa however, opted for Buffaloes’ Liberty Chakoroma and the Bantu Rovers duo of Teenage Hadebe and Elvis Moyo.
He said this week that the snub would instead spur him to work even harder. “I am not sure why I was left out because I did my best last season, but I will continue to work hard and hopefully, my time will come.”
The Bulawayo-born star is not the only surprise omission from the squad, with Triangle’s midfielder Praise Tonha also missing out, despite making tremendous progress last year. A defensive midfielder by nature, Tonha has often filled in at right-back and also developed a knack of scoring from free-kicks.
Zimbabwe are now set to play Cameroon in the second round of the African Under-23 Championships next month.
Post published in: Football