YOUNG Warriors coach Calisto Pasuwa says their battle to qualify for the All-Africa Games scheduled for Congo Brazaville in September is still delicately balanced.
The coach is keen to beef up his squad ahead of the return leg against Cameroon in Yaoundé in two weeks’ time.
Pasuwa’s men defied odds staked against them to edge their more established opponents 1-0 courtesy of a strike by captain Wisdom Mutasa on 22 minutes following a cross by right back Blessing Moyo.
The win gave the Young Warriors an advantage going into the second leg but Pasuwa remains cautious.
He insists that he wants to beef up after his camp was hit by player withdrawals with clubs saying the match was outside the Fifa calendar for international matches.
“We need to beef up the squad for the return leg,” he said.
“We couldn’t get all the players in camp and we were forced to use midfielders going forward. We wanted our strongest squad to play in this home fixture so that we get goals.
“There is a problem somewhere but I thought it’s a national issue at stake and we wanted all players available. Remember we are going away for the return match.
“We will have to hear from the authorities. We might take two or three players from the clubs and we might be told again that the match is not on the FIFA calendar.”
He added: “We don’t own players. They are owned by the clubs and if clubs refuse with their players then we are in trouble.
“Like on Saturday Highlanders came to take their player when we thought we had finalised our squad. It’s one challenge we are facing in the preparations. These are new boys and we are still trying to come up with a team which can gel.
“I think defensively we did very well but it was the way we were playing from the midfield going forward where we should do our homework. We were lacking depth in terms of our strike force.”
The Young Warriors coach will be hoping to secure Highlanders striker Thomas Chideu and Nqobizitha Masuku who was withdrawn on the eve of the match by his club.
The Young Warriors go into the second leg needing just a draw to qualify.Advertisement
