Warriors Hit by Injury Blow Ahead of Botswana Tournament

National football team coach Marian Marinica has been forced to reshuffle his squad after four key players were ruled out ahead of the upcoming Four Nations Tournament in Botswana.

Among those sidelined are Scotland-based forward Tawanda Maswanhise who plays for Motherwell FC, as well as experienced striker Knowledge Musona, Prince Dube and Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya.

In response, Marinica has called up replacements including Washington Navaya of Hardrock, Jarrison Selemani from FC Platinum, Godknows Murwira of Scottland FC and Mongameli Tshuma from Highlanders FC.

Players began reporting for camp in Bulawayo on Monday, with early arrivals taking part in light training sessions.

The full squad is expected to assemble by the end of the day.

With limited time to prepare, Marinica acknowledged the challenge of building team cohesion ahead of the regional competition.

“I wish everyone to enjoy the tournament, especially for the spectators to come in their numbers after a very long time. The tournament is important as it has FIFA rankings at stake and a trophy on the table, so we need to start preparing now and become competitive. We need to come up with a successful team for the future. As much as possible, we have a very short time to prepare. We will have two sessions, but we still want the players to gel. We have new faces we want to give them an opportunity,” he said.

As part of preparations, the Warriors are set to face Highlanders FC in a practice match on Wednesday.

The Four Nations Tournament will run from 28 to 31 March in Botswana, with Zimbabwe expected to depart for Francistown on Thursday.