Sports / Soccer
Lunga, Bonne available for Warriors
18 Feb 2019 at 10:04hrs | Views
EUROPE-based players Macauley Bonne and Kelly Lunga will be available for the Warriors as they face Congo Brazzaville in a crucial Afcon qualifier on March 24, H-Metro has established.
Warriors manager Wellington Mpandare confirmed to H-Metro that the duo will have their documentation ready in time for the big encounter which determines the team's participation at this year's Afcon finals to be held in Egypt in June.
Bonne plays in England's fifth tier, National League, while Lunga plays in German's in the Regionalliga West division.
The duo has been close to making their debuts for the national team but have been held back by lack of Zimbabwean passports.
"We will announce the team this week, we are to finalise it tomorrow (today).
"We are hoping to bring one or two new players, Kelly Lunga and Macauley Bonne and obviously we are going to drop some players from the previous squad.
"I am sure that their papers will be ready soon, I will go to the registrar tomorrow (today) to follow up on their papers.
"We will also be able to assess some of the players whom l have been talking to, they are Under 23's and are eligible to play for the national team," said Mpandare.
Mpandare also said they are looking forward to include the bulk of other foreign based players in the Under 23 setup since it is impossible to draft all of them to the senior team.
"Admiral Muskwe, Enrique Ndlovu, Tinashe Chakware, Reward Mwakona, Douglas Nyaupembe, Farai Mutatu, Faith Patrick, Shama Bako, Bilson Phillip, Martin Mapisa and Vashiko Dickson are part of the players that are on our radar. I have been talking to them and they are willing to play for the Under 23's.
"They will be participating in the AFCON Under 23 and have back to back matches against Mozambique and we might bring one or two for the senior team" he said.
Of the European based players, Nottingham Forrest defender Tendayi Darikwa managed to play for the Warriors.
Some of the players targeted is Kundai Benyu who once turned up for Warriors against Lesotho in a non-competitive match in 2017.
Warriors manager Wellington Mpandare confirmed to H-Metro that the duo will have their documentation ready in time for the big encounter which determines the team's participation at this year's Afcon finals to be held in Egypt in June.
Bonne plays in England's fifth tier, National League, while Lunga plays in German's in the Regionalliga West division.
The duo has been close to making their debuts for the national team but have been held back by lack of Zimbabwean passports.
"We will announce the team this week, we are to finalise it tomorrow (today).
"We are hoping to bring one or two new players, Kelly Lunga and Macauley Bonne and obviously we are going to drop some players from the previous squad.
"I am sure that their papers will be ready soon, I will go to the registrar tomorrow (today) to follow up on their papers.
"We will also be able to assess some of the players whom l have been talking to, they are Under 23's and are eligible to play for the national team," said Mpandare.
Mpandare also said they are looking forward to include the bulk of other foreign based players in the Under 23 setup since it is impossible to draft all of them to the senior team.
"Admiral Muskwe, Enrique Ndlovu, Tinashe Chakware, Reward Mwakona, Douglas Nyaupembe, Farai Mutatu, Faith Patrick, Shama Bako, Bilson Phillip, Martin Mapisa and Vashiko Dickson are part of the players that are on our radar. I have been talking to them and they are willing to play for the Under 23's.
"They will be participating in the AFCON Under 23 and have back to back matches against Mozambique and we might bring one or two for the senior team" he said.
Of the European based players, Nottingham Forrest defender Tendayi Darikwa managed to play for the Warriors.
Some of the players targeted is Kundai Benyu who once turned up for Warriors against Lesotho in a non-competitive match in 2017.
Source - hmetro
