Story by Lawrence Trusida, Sports Editor
WARRIORS coach, Marian Marinica has urged his players to give their utmost commitment to the national cause as Zimbabwe prepares for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) scheduled for Morocco next month.
Speaking from the Warriors’ training base in Jeddah where the team is set to face Algeria in a friendly match on Thursday, Marinica challenged his players to give their all in representing the country.
The newly appointed national team coach held his first training session in Saudi Arabia on Monday, as the Warriors prepare for a friendly match against Algeria.
The Romanian tactician, who has been tasked with leading Zimbabwe past the group stage, expressed optimism about the team’s potential but emphasised that success would only come through total commitment and national pride.
“You have to actually deserve to be in the national team, because there are so many Zimbabweans that will give everything to fight for the country, to represent the country, to have the privilege to play for the country, so the players selected have to bring that and to be proven on the pitch. If you give 100% on the pitch, people appreciate that, because we give you everything we can. But if we don’t give 100% you are letting the country down. I’m pretty sure that we are going to have a fantastic chance to pass the group stages. That means we need to get at least one win and a draw because the attitude of the players here is fantastic,” he said.
Marinica is also alive to the challenges bedevilling the team, with the Warriors failing to find the back of the net in the last four matches, while scoring just seven goals in the last 10 encounters, with the bulk of them coming at the COSAFA Cup.
“We have to improve, first of all, the number of chances we take, because increasing the number of chances and people are getting into more dangerous areas sooner will probably increase our chances of scoring. What actually I would like from them to become more direct, because sometimes that too many passes, too many negative play, rather than direct, that’s one of the major weakness I have noticed So we have to improve a lot on that play fast and direct football but with control so that we do not concede why trying to attack without purpose,” he said.
Meanwhile, all the players called into camp have reported at the Jeddah base, save for captain Marvellous Nakamba and Divine Lunga, who are expected to arrive this Tuesday evening.
Zimbabwe face Algeria on Thursday before shifting base to Qatar for a date with the hosts on Sunday.
