Warriors Coach Joey Antipas Beefs Up For World Cup Qualifier

Zimbabwe national team head coach Joey Antipas has beefed up his squad by handing a call up to Ovidy Karuru who has already reported to camp for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier preparations.

Karuru joins FC Platinum attacking midfielder Ian Nekati who was also brought up into the squad to beef up the attacking options ahead of the must-win-tie.

Warriors are in camp at the National Sports Stadium in Harare polishing their hedges ahead of the return leg against Somalia.

In the first-leg that was played on Thursday in Djibouti, Zimbabwe suffered an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at the hands of the global minnows.

Speaking to the media in an open training session at the historic stadium, Antipas made public his decision to call up the two attack-minded players.

“We have included Ovidy (Karuru) and Ian (Nekati) in the squad to play against Somalia on Tuesday (tomorrow).”

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “We needed to put reinforcements in the team but at the same time, we didn’t want to make wholesale changes for cohesion purposes.”   [/perfectpullquote]

“We are quite sure the pair will add value to the team as we try to outdo Somalia and book a place in the World Cup group stages,” said Antipas.

In the first leg, Warriors missed numerous opportunities and also failed to be creative at the flanks and most especially on the left where Highlanders’ McClive Phiri struggled to assert himself.

Zimbabwe host Somalia at the National Stadium on Tuesday 10^th September in a 3 PM (CAT).