Freshly-recruited Warriors coach Norman Mapeza is likely to have United Kingdom-based players for the crunch World Cup qualifier against Ghana away, while there are chances of the same arrangement in the return fixture at the National Sports Stadium.
Due to Covid-19 travelling restrictions imposed by the Boris Johnson-led UK government, Warriors stars based there could not take part in the previous qualifiers against South Africa and Ethiopia, as all returnees from countries under the ‘Red List’ are subjected to a mandatory 10-day quarantine.
However, unlike Zimbabwe, Ghana is not on that list, hence players are not quarantined on their return to the UK, should they travel to the West African country.
What that means is that if the ongoing talks between FIFA and UK government for those restrictions to be relaxed fail to bring a positive result, Mapeza will likely have the UK-based stars for the first game on the 9th of October in Cape Coast only, and not the one in Harare three days later.
According to Zimbabwe’s soccer24, Aston Villa’s Marvellous Nakamba, high-flying Bournemouth’s Jordan Zemura, Wigan Atheltic’s Tendayi Darikwa, Luton Town’s Admiral Muskwe, Ipswich Town’s Macauley Bonne, and Plymouth Argle’s Brendan Galloway, are some of the players affected by the restrictions last time and they are most likely to return to the team ahead of a crucial game against Ghana.
