Pasuwa orders players on strike to train

By Petros Kausiyo

WARRIORS coach Callisto Pasuwa yesterday flexed his muscles and read the Riot Act on his striking players, ordering them to return to training while their grievances over unpaid bonuses and allowances were being addressed.

The Warriors are scheduled to fly out to Maseru tomorrow morning for a final African Championships qualifier, second leg tie, against Lesotho on Sunday.

Zimbabwe, who took what appears a comfortable 3-1 lead from the first leg at Barbourfields last Sunday, are just 90 minutes away from a record fourth straight CHAN finals appearance if they finish off the job in Maseru.

Only inaugural winners DRC, who have already qualified for the 2016 tournament and Ghana who carry a 2-1 first leg lead over neighbours Cote d’Ivoire, belong to the class that has previously qualified for the last three CHAN finals.

But the Warriors preparations were on Tuesday rocked by a boycott after players refused to leave their lodge in Bulawayo for both the morning and afternoon sessions.

The players have been demanding that ZIFA pay them their outstanding allowances and bonuses, which date back to CHAN first round assignments against Comoros.

They also claim that they were not paid a cent in allowances last week when they arrived in Bulawayo for the first leg of the clash against Lesotho, a fact that ZIFA communications manager Xolisani Gwesela admitted to.

The players have been communicating their grievances and the boycott bid through their skipper and midfielder Danny Phiri.

But with time running out ahead of the return fixture against Likuena (the Crocodiles) and with his charges adamant that they would not take to the field for the morning session, Pasuwa yesterday used his authority and directed that all the players in camp had to get into their kit and train.

Pasuwa confirmed that he had challenged those players who were still keen on boycotting training to “pack their bags and leave camp’’.

The 44-year-old coach said although he sympathised with his troops, he felt that a continued strike would not help much of their CHAN qualification cause as they still would be required to fulfil the game in Maseru.

Pasuwa argued that there was need for the players to understand that they had a job to do in Maseru in much the same way as they were disgruntled at the apparent neglect from the beleaguered ZIFA.

“It is true that I had to order them to train today. I realised that no one was coming to the bus for training in the morning and then they sent their captain to tell me that they would not train for this entire camp until they were paid by ZIFA.

“I then addressed them and told them that while they have a genuine case which should be urgently addressed, we could not afford to travel to Maseru without training. We have tasked the team manager (Richard Tswatswa) to continue pressing on the issue of payments with ZIFA.

“I also then told them that I could not afford to travel with a squad that had not trained and asked that whoever was still not interested in training after our discussion was free to pack his bags and leave camp.

“I hope the administration will sort the issues out, what is clear is that there are challenges, the Mighty Warriors had some challenges too, but they fulfilled their game and we have to give this game our best shot and qualify for CHAN,’’ Pasuwa said.

Pasuwa insisted it was important for his Warriors to keep their focus on the mission to qualify for the CHAN finals.

The fourth CHAN finals will run in Rwanda from January 16 to February 7.

“From a coach’s point of view it could be difficult to understand and assess a performance of people who would not have trained because of a strike because you won’t understand whether some mistakes would be genuine, whether some mistakes would be due to lack of training or it could be due to deliberate errors so it is important to keep the focus on the game’’.

Pasuwa said he was happy that after addressing them the players had heeded the call to train with the coach expressing satisfaction that the attitude had later changed for the better as the practice session at White City progressed.

“I think they also understood that they could blow a chance to be heroes by qualifying for the CHAN finals if they choose to focus only on the money that is outstanding.

“We have already lost valuable time because when you are playing away a whole day is normally reserved for travelling so that means we should have trained twice a day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

“On Saturday we will just have a feel of the match venue. But we will make the most of the training days that we have now’’.

The former Dynamos coach, however, said he was still concerned with the injury worries to defenders Blessing Moyo and Teenage Hadebe and striker Roderick Mutuma.

Both Dynamos right back Moyo and Highlanders centre back Hadebe did light training yesterday while Mutuma, scorer of a double in the first leg, sat out the sessions as he is still being treated for groin and ankle sprains.

Pasuwa has also called up, as cover, defender William Chitima from Premiership debutants Tsholotsho.

The Warriors coach also revealed that his charges could not afford to go to Maseru and become “sitting ducks who will try to defend the 3-1 lead’’.

“We are not reading much into the first leg result. We are going there to play an attacking game and get more goals.

“Of course, I noticed that their central midfield is their strongest department because they have very good movement and they are very good at keeping possession so we have to tighten that aspect of our game. They are very mobile on the right flank.

“So we are not going there to try and defend but we will try to open them up more. I have asked that we train at the Khumalo hockey stadium here (Bulawayo) because it is almost similar to the artificial turf in Maseru which has more granules than Rufaro and the ball doesn’t bounce that much.

“For those that went to Comoros they also know the kind of pitch that we will be playing on in Maseru, it is much heavier and they water the pitch just before the start of a game,’’ Pasuwa said. The Herald