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*We Wanted Musona And Mushekwi For World Cup Qualifiers - Jairos Tapera*

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Interim Warriors coach Jairos Tapera says he attempted to persuade former captain Knowledge Musona and China-based Nyasha Mushekwi to end their international retirement and participate in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

Tapera, who is being assisted by Takesure Chiragwi and Saul Chaminuka, on Wednesday, announced a 23-man squad for the matches against Lesotho and South Africa in June.

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There are only seven locally based players in the squad, namely Chicken Inn, Manica Diamonds and Dynamos goalkeepers Donovan Bernard, Godfrey Chitsumba and Martin Mapisa respectively, as well as Highlanders defender, Andrew Mbeba, CAPS United defender Godknows Murwira and Simba Bhora duo of Walter Musona and Tymon Machope.

The squad include the likes of Tawanda Chirewa, Jordan Zemura, Andy Rinomhota, Daniel Msendami, Shane Maroodza, Munashe Garananga, Tivonge Rushesha, Joey Phuthi, Walter Musona and Tawanda Maswanhise.

Tapera told the Zimpapers Sports Hub that he had tried without success to rope in Musona, Mushekwi and England-based striker Macauley Bonne. He said:

> We tried the best that we could to make sure that all departments were balanced. There are some players that we had wanted to be part of the squad, but we couldn’t get them.

> Mind you, these are very important games that we are facing, so you would need all your best players available. We reached out to Nyasha Mushekwi but the response was slow.

> We also talked to Knowledge Musona and he is unavailable as well. Besides, he is nursing an injury which made him miss the last three games for his team.

> Then there is Macauley Bonne, he asked to be excused. He indicated that he was currently changing clubs, so he asked to be excused so that he could facilitate a smooth transfer.

> It’s important that we have the core of the squad. There were a few adjustments to the team that has been representing Zimbabwe of late.

> We respect what (Baltemar) Brito did in Rwanda (during the opening matches of the qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria) and we also respect what Norman Mapeza did in Malawi.

> So, we just looked at the core of the teams they deployed, and we worked with that, obviously with a few alterations.

The Warriors squad will report for camp on Sunday in Johannesburg, where they will host Lesotho at the rented Orlando Stadium on June 7.

Zimbabwe will then play hosts South Africa on June 11 at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.

More: Pindula News

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