Zimbabwe Senior Football Team departed for Cameroon for their AFCON tournament on Wednesday
31 December 2021
Jeremiah Harrison
Sports Reporter
Warriors caretaker coach Norman Mapeza announced the final 23 man squad travelling to Cameroon on Tuesday.
There were mixed feelings among the football fans to some names that appeared on the Warriors’ list as Mapeza made some last minute changes.
Some big names did not make it to the final team. Players such as Knox Mutizwa is one of the players who was in the 30 men provisional squad and dropped from the final squad.
Selection of Iceland based midfielder Benyu raised fans’ eyebrows, a surprise selection to the team.
Benyu was neither among the 40 men provisional nor the 30 men squad but somehow made it into the final 23.
The midfilder makes a national appearance after a while.
The most promising Prince Edward School youngster Bill Antonio was left out of the final squad. Antonio turns out for local outfit Dynamos FC.
The youngster’s dream for a first AFCON appearance turned into a nightmare as Mapeza left him out of the 23 men squad for Cameroon.
In Mapeza’s last World Cup qualifier encounter against Ethiopia, he said that he had shifted focus and was focusing on grooming the youngster for a better future national team.
Leaving Bill Antonio out of the AFCON squad is totally against his own word.
If he is not giving chance to young players like Antonio then which young players is he grooming for the future national team?
Antonio made his first appearance for the senior national team in the World Cup qualifiers against South Africa in Johannesburg last month and again in the last encounter with Ethiopia at home.
It is a bitter pill that the young lad has not made it to the AFCON.
Zimbabwe will play Cameroon and Sudan in friendly matches before playing Senegal on the the 10th of January.
Meanwhile the battle between the SRC and ZIFA still rages on.
According to information gathered, Sports and Recreation Commission was ordered by FIFA to restore ZIFA board by 3 January 2022.
Failure to do that all national teams will be banned in partaking in all international football activities.
To date the Kamambo led board has not be been restored as yet.
What will then happen to the Warriors if they qualify for the next stage at the forthcoming Nations Cup if the ZIFA board is not restored?
The consequences may be sour.