WARRIORS coach Michael Nees has been handed a major fitness boost with defender Munashe Garananga set to return from injury for the team’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group J qualifiers against Kenya and Cameroon next month.
The Denmark-based star missed Zimbabwe’s back-to-back wins against Namibia this month and has also been forced to miss matches for his Copenhagen FC side.
However, he is now expected to make it back for the two crunch matches against Kenya at home and Cameroon away.
The lanky defender was included in Copenhagen’s matchday squads against Real Betis in the Europa League and Brondby in the Danish Super League last week, although he was an unused substitute.
With another Warriors defender Brendan Galloway set to miss the remaining Afcon fixtures due to an injury picked against Namibia, the potential return of Garananga is exciting news for Nees, who is facing a crisis in his team’s defence.
Garananga has been one of Nees’ most important players since he took over and the defender featured regularly under the German mentor before the injury setback.
Zimbabwe are on the brink of Afcon qualification and Nees will be glad to see Garananga back for the last two matches as the Warriors look to seal their ticket.
Zimbabwe are second in Group J with eight points and need to avoid defeat against Kenya to secure their ticket to the finals.
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If they lose to Kenya, Nees’ men might need to beat group leaders and already qualified Cameroon away to be sure of their progress to next year’s Afcon finals.
Cameroon are on 10 points, while Kenya, who face winless Namibia in the last game, have four.
The Harambee Stars need perfect results against Zimbabwe and Namibia to go through.
Namibia are out of contention with no points on their tally.
Zimbabwe will host Kenya in Polokwane, South Africa.
Zifa had set their sights on returning to Johannesburg’s Orlando Stadium, where they hosted Namibia, but Nees, whose attention to detail is excellent, preferred Peter Mokaba Stadium, which has got a better playing surface.
Zifa have settled for a 6pm kick-off on Friday November 15 for the make-or-break match against Kenya.
