THE Warriors camp has been hit by the withdrawal of Tino Kadewere from the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Kenya and Cameroon due to an injury.
Zimbabwe open their Group J qualifying campaign against the Harambe Stars on Friday in Kampala, Uganda, in a game they will be the away side, before “hosting” the Indomitable Lions four days later.
Both matches will be played at the Mandela Stadium as Kenya and Zimbabwe do not have a Caf-certified stadiums to host international matches.
Ahead of the two matches, the Warriors team continues to receive injury blows, with Kadewere the latest to withdraw from the team after suffering an injury playing for his French Ligue 1 side Nantes at the weekend.
Zimbabwe Football Association announced yesterday that the striker suffered a hamstring injury and will not travel to Kampala.
Kadewere, one of the senior players in the Warriors squad, played a blinder for his side at the weekend, providing two assists as Nantes beat Montpelier 3-1 on Saturday.
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His unavailability leaves the Warriors very thin upfront, with Prince Dube, Obriel Chirinda and rookie Douglas Mapfumo the only remaining recognisable strikers in the squad.
The former Harare City striker’s withdrawal came just two days after Plymouth Argyle defender Brendan Galloway was also ruled out because of a hamstring problem.
Galloway has been replaced in the team by Manica Diamonds captain Farai Banda.
The leftback left Harare yesterday, together with Teenage Hadebe and are expected to join the rest of the squad this morning.
The locally-based players, led by the returning Khama Billiat, coach Michael Nees and his technical team, arrived in Kampala from Harare yesterday, where they linked-up with most of the foreign-based stars who flew straight from their bases to the east African country.
France-based Warriors captain Marshall Munetsi, Munashe Garananga of Copenhagen in Denmark and Udinese star Jordan Zemura will be the last foreign-based batch to join camp this morning.
The trio was involved for their clubs on Sunday.
Nees, who was appointed Warriors head coach a fortnight ago, was expected to conduct his first training session yesterday afternoon.
Warriors squad
Goalkeepers: Washington Arubi, Marley Tavaziva, Bernard Donovan
Defenders: Gerald Takwara, Munashe Garananga, Andrew Mbeba, Godknows Murwira, Emmanuel Jalai, Teenage Hadebe, Farai Banda
Midfielders: Marshall Munetsi, Andy Rinomhota, Jordan Zemura, Walter Musona, Daniel Msendami, Brian Banda, Tawanda Maswanhise, Tawanda Chirewa, Richard Hachiro, Khama Billiat
Strikers: Douglas Mapfumo, Prince Dube, Obriel Chirinda