We are ready: Mapeza

By Petros Kausiyo (01/06/10)

WARRIORS caretaker coach Norman Mapeza believes his charges are ready and focused on their dream international friendly against world soccer giants Brazil at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.

Mapeza expressed satisfaction with the massive turnout for camp and immediately got down to business by holding the team’s first training at the National Sports Stadium’s B Arena yesterday.

Skipper Benjani Mwaruwari, who last featured for the senior team under Brazilian coach Valinhos, led a cast of foreign and home-based Warriors who went through their paces in cold and sometimes drizzly conditions in the afternoon.

That the training session attracted huge interest from some local club officials, the local and Brazilian media, players’ agents and Mamelodi Sundowns coach Trott Moloto, who is visiting the country since the weekend, further highlighted the significance being placed on the rare meeting between the Warriors and the Samba Boys.

The Brazilian media believe Zimbabwe’s proximity to South Africa, the similarity in conditions between Harare and Johannesburg, the facilities at the refurbished National Sports Stadium and the potential of the Warriors to give their team a good warm-up could have also helped sway the Samba Boys into choosing to come here.

But even Zifa who normally battle with the senior team’s training camps, appear to have caught on to the Samba Boys mania sweeping across the country with the association checking the Warriors into the five- star Meikles Hotel and hiring a luxury bus they are using during training and on match day. The Warriors will become the fifth African country to play record five-time world champions Brazil.

Brazil, around whom security has been tightened in keeping with the high-profile status of the Samba Boys, are expected to fly into the country late tonight and will head straight to their base at the Rainbow Towers.

Tickets for the massive game will also go on sale at Zifa House and at the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority offices in the capital this morning.

But Mapeza, a former captain of the national team, speaking soon after the Warriors’ first workout reckoned that his players were ready for the rare dance with the Samba Boys’ high-profile stars and insisted his charges would not be intimidated at the prospects of facing the South Americans.

"I am happy with the response to the call-up for camp by the players despite the short notice given for this game.

"We would love to have them for a few more days because at the moment it is really difficult to tell who is fit and who is not. I think we will have to talk to them individually and find out their state and fitness levels,’’ Mapeza said.

Mapeza said although they were doing their own assessment of the players, they had decided to speak to them on an individual basis as most of the foreign contingent were coming from long and demanding seasons with their respective clubs.

The lanky former Monomotapa coach also hinted at concern over Benjani’s fitness but said he would speak to his captain who has been battling a nagging knee injury that blighted his loan spell at English Premiership side Sunderland.

"He seems to be limping, but we will speak to him first. If he feels he can play throughout the game or for 10 minutes we will let him do so but we must not strain him.

"There might be some more players who might have some knocks and we will find out all that during our training tomorrow as well as from talking to them.’’

Mapeza said he, just like the players, was also relishing the prospect of guiding the Warriors in tomorrow’s game.

"It is an important game for me as a coach and for the players too because it is a chance of a lifetime but what it most important is that we have to show Brazil that we can compete and we would want to compete.

"So we will have a mixture of local and foreign-based players in the team that will play on Wednesday,’’ Mapeza said.

The Warriors mentor said although he was happy with the general excitement within the nation over tomorrow’s game, he did not want Zifa, the players and the senior team’s merry band of supporters to lose sight of the significance of their African Championships of Nations assignment against Seychelles on Sunday.

"It is good that we have been granted this opportunity to play a big team like Brazil. I think Zifa should build from this momentum and if possible continue with the way they are looking after the players for this game.

"I must emphasise that we must not lose sight of the fact that we have a very important game again on Sunday against Seychelles. People might say it is game over but we have not yet qualified for CHAN, there is one game still to play so we must focus on that game inasmuch as we are focusing on the match against Brazil."

The Warriors — carrying a healthy 4-2 lead — will also host Seychelles at the same venue on Sunday in their final CHAN qualifier second leg tie.

But unlike tomorrow’s game, the CHAN game is restricted only to the home-based Warriors under the captaincy of Method Mwanjali.

Mapeza also lauded the Samba Boys for agreeing to fly to Harare to play the Warriors and said domestic football needed to draw a lot of important lessons from their interaction with their experienced and highly decorated opponents.

"It shows there is a good relationship between Zimbabwe and Brazil, it is good for us as a country that Brazil are coming here which will put us under the spotlight and I think it gives a chance of lifetime to learn some important lessons about football in different ways from this visit by Brazil.

"I must also pay tribute to everyone who was involved in bringing them here and I hope they will continue to bring many more teams of this nature so that we can also continue to learn and improve,’’ said Mapeza.

Of the 13 foreign-based players named in the squad announced by the coaches last Friday, the trio of Noel Kaseke, Obadiah Tarumbwa and Musa Mguni had been ruled out of the Samba Boys tie.

National teams general manager Sharrif Mussa said Kaseke, Tarumbwa and Mguni had excused themselves after indicating to the Warriors technical team that they were due to fly back to their club bases this week.

Big defender Zvenyika Makonese, who plays for Orlando Pirates, and the Kaizer Chiefs pair of Tinashe Nengomasha and Thomas Sweswe were expected to join camp last night.

"We have been in touch with the players and we are expecting Thomas, Tinashe and Zvenyika to be in by tonight (last night) and to attend the morning session.

"But Cuthbert Malajila has asked to be excused from the Brazil game because he has gone to South Africa for trials and should be back in the country on Thursday, which means that he should be available for the game against Seychelles on Sunday,’’ Mussa said.

There were no problems though with the availability of Denmark-based winger Quincy Antipas, Ovidy Karuru, who is playing in France, Belgium-based Vusa Nyoni, Kingston Nkatha of Free State Stars and the Kaizer Chiefs duo of Knowledge Musona and Zhaimu Jambo.

They joined their local colleagues, who have been flying the country’s flag high in the CHAN competition in which they are unbeaten in 10 games.