KENYA national football team coach Enjin Firat has revealed his admiration of the Warriors’ galaxy of stars ahead of the two nations clash in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The two nations are part of Group J alongside former African champions Cameroon and Zimbabwe’s regional rivals Namibia.
While some have given the Warriors slim chances of qualification following their recent troubles on and off the field, Firat sees Zimbabwe as a big threat to his team’s progress to the finals to be hosted by Morocco.
Zimbabwe recently lost their World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho and South Africa, yet Firat is impressed by the quality that they have all over the field.
“We are in a tough group, especially Zimbabwe. They are only in pot four because they dropped down during the [Fifa] ban, but if you look at the quality of their players, most of them are playing in big leagues, such as the Turkish Super League,” Firat told Pulse Sports Kenya.
Defender Teenage Hadebe played in the Turkish top league for Yeni Malatyaspor before moving to the United States for Houston Dynamo returning to Turkey in February for Konyaspor.
Firat has already done his homework after the draw was conducted on July 4 and knows his Harambe Stars will face a different cast of players than the ones they met in the Cosafa Cup recently.
“Marshall Munetsi is playing in France, Jordan Zemura is in Italy’s Serie A. There are players in Ligue 1 [France] and even players like Tino Kadewere. Others are playing in England, such as Leon Chiwome, who is in the Premier League with Wolves,” Firat said.
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“They have some good players. Of course, people who don’t look at this do not realise how strong they are. The other teams, you know the quality of their squads. It will not be easy, but for us, it will not change anything.”
Other Warriors players in European leagues include skipper Marvelous Nakamba, who is at Luton in the English Championship league, while Tawanda Chirewa, who announced himself to international football with a brilliant performance against South Africa last month, is at Wolves in the Premier League.
Munashe Garan’anga is on the verge of sealing a move to Danish giants FC Copenhagen from Belgium’s KV Mechelen.
Firat is cautious about meeting the Warriors despite presiding over his team’s 3-1 win over Zimbabwe in a four-nation tournament in Malawi earlier this year.
The Turkish mentor will not know exactly what to expect from the Warriors, who are likely to have a new coach when the two sides clash in September after Jairos Tapera’s interim reign ended with the Cosafa Cup.
Portuguese coach Baltemar Brito had guided the Warriors in their previous competitive matches, where they played out draws against Nigeria and Rwanda last year.
The Warriors play their first game against Kenya away in September, taking on Cameroon before the back-to-back fixtures against Namibia to be played in October.
