Warriors refute boycott claims

By Mugove Chigada in MOANDA, Gabon and Petros Kausiyo in Harare

Zimbabwe captain Willard Katsande has dismissed speculation that the Warriors staged another protest yesterday over bonuses and reiterated his men were firmly focused on their next AFCON Group B qualifier against Africa’s top-ranked side Senegal tomorrow. The match gets underway at 9pm.

The Warriors didn’t train in the morning yesterday, after having held a 90-minute workout on Monday night, and it fed into speculation the players had boycotted training after allegedly clashing with ZIFA over how much they should be paid for the point they picked in the 1-1 draw against Algeria.

“We never said we are not going to train, but it was recovery day because we played on Sunday night and last night the guys who were on the bench played a friendly match to keep the fitness levels high and then the coach decided to give the whole day off and train at night and so we are training tonight (last night),’’ Katsande told The Herald.

Team manager Sharif Mussa said the training schedule he had been given by coach Callisto Pasuwa to use for logistical planning did to include a workout in the morning.

“My schedule did not have a training session (in the morning) but what I got was an instruction from the HOD (Omega Sibanda) to bring my schedule of payments because they wanted to pay a draw bonus for the players for the game against Algeria and all this was done without any dispute,’’ Mussa said.

Katsande said they were focused on their next match.

“The guys are now looking at the next game against Senegal. The Algerian game is now behind us. We have to make sure that we come up with a result,” said Katsande.

“Everyone knows what we should do. We are happy with the first game, we showed everyone that we are not a small team. We told them before the game and now there is a bit of respect that we see here where we are staying.”

The Warriors were scheduled to train in the evening yesterday.

Striker Cuthbert Malajila believes they have to forget about the missed chances against Algeria.

“In a game of football, when you are playing a game as a striker you want to score goals. Sometimes it won’t happen as you want. We, as a team, wanted to win the game and we wanted to win it for the nation,” said Malajila.

“That is why we are a team and we want to do it for the nation. Everyone out there, when they see us, they are supporting us and they are encouraging us, which is a plus.

“When you miss a chance it is a different thing because as a player you want to get goals and when you do not score it is a different scenario. But what can we do as a team? We have to fix that.”

Malajila said he didn’t want to concentrate on Senegal’s star players led by Liverpool’s Sadio Mane.

“I don’t want to talk about individuals because we played as a team against Algeria. We have seen Senegal. They are big and skilful, but we know what we can do,” said Malajila.

“We were supposed to win that game, we were supposed to take three points, but that was to be. We can’t run away from that we were supposed to win the game, but this now will be a new game and we are preparing.

“I think as a team we are prepared and that is why we have qualified to be this far. The coach has been selecting the players that he knows can do the job.

“Remember, we have 11 players on the pitch, nothing is impossible. We have done it before as a team and we can do it against Senegal.”

Rightback Hardlife Zvirekwi believes they have gained their respect after their good show against Algeria.

“We are on mission to do the country proud and we are on a mission to make sure that we do better than the teams that came to AFCON before us,” said Zvirekwi.

“It’s a privilege for some of us who are playing in the lower leagues to rub shoulders with the big guys. It gives us an idea of where we are as players.

“It is not going to be an easy match and I never thought there was going to be any easy match in this tournament. I think Senegal are going to be tough and we need to stand together as a team. We will need to go there and put up a fight against them.

“Obviously, as underdogs, people didn’t know much about us. But after that game, they are now aware of what we can give as a team. So we are ready to give our best as team.” The Herald