BY HENRY MHARA
WARRIORS coach Zdravko Logarusic is tomorrow expected to announce his squad for this year’s African Nations Championship (Chan) tournament to be hosted by Cameroon from April 4–25.
The Croatian tactician revealed that he had concluded his selection of the squad with the assistance of his assistants and selected local Premiership coaches.
Logarusic said 27 players, including three goalkeepers, would be called into camp, which begins on March 8 before the squad is trimmed to the final 23-man team which will represent the country in Cameroon.
“The squad will be out on Monday. Already we have sent letters to the clubs. “We thought we should not announce the squad until the clubs get the letters,” he said.
“I have considered that every position should have two players and added two extra plus three keepers because some can get injured in training.”
Logarusic said the squad was picked by his assistants and some of the Premier Soccer League coaches he inquired from for information.
The Croat has visited a number of clubs since he arrived in the country last month on a familiarisation tour where he met a number of top-flight coaches and watched some of the clubs’ pre-season friendly matches.
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“I spoke with former coaches and those that are there now and others I met. Each of them gave me a list of 24 players. Then when I put together all of them, I picked around 20 players who were featuring on all the lists submitted. Then four I just selected by myself. Each coach put two players for a single position so it’s the input of the coaches. When a name features in the entire coaches list, that means that player is good. That’s how I did it for this selection,” he said.
Logarusic confirmed that Joey Antipas would no longer be part of the technical team after his club Chicken Inn reportedly withdrew him from the position.
Chicken Inn argue that Zifa did not follow protocol when they announced the appointment of Antipas as Logarusic’s assistant coach.
Zimbabwe were placed in a tough Group A alongside West African opponents in hosts Cameroon, Mali and Burkina Faso.
And in order to make any impact, the Warriors, who take on the hosts in the opening game on April 4, need proper preparations ahead of the competition specifically designed for players plying their trade in local leagues.
