HARARE - Zimbabwe's interim football coach Klaus Pagels says his experimental team takes the international friendly match with Zambia on Sunday seriously as the Warriors continue to rebuild under the German mentor.

The Warriors are scheduled to leave this morning by road for their unofficial friendly match against former African champions Zambia in Lusaka as part of commemorations to mark the 20th anniversary of the Gabon air crash.

The disaster occurred on April 27 in 1993 when a Zambian military plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Gabon and killed the entire team, officials and journalists who were heading for Senegal for a 1994 World Cup qualifier.

The Warriors held their first two training sessions yesterday where they trained under the watchful eye of Pagels alongside his assistants Lloyd Mutasa and Nkululeko Dhlamini.

Pagels named an entirely home-based squad of 18 for the trip.    

Speaking after the afternoon session, Pagels praised

“I am really impressed because all of the players that we invited are in good condition and high spirits,” he said.

 “The good thing for me is that all of them have the willingness to run. We are building a new team and we need this type of players. We don’t want players who hide at the back and do not demand the ball.

“These players always want to get the ball, they want to attack. All the players that we have selected did very well at the session”.

The German says his new group of players has done well in adjusting to his tika-taka type of play.

“Two days is not enough to prepare for a game but in this short time they learned a lot especially in the afternoon when we did a lot of tactical drills.

“We have to go to Zambia for an international match. International matches are different from these PSL matches. The main idea is we want to win every match but we want to play our style of football, short passing game. I expect a lot from these players, I think they can achieve a lot in the future.”

The match in Lusaka will be Pagels’ third in charge after he presided over an international match against Botswana at Rufaro Stadium in February before getting his first competitive test in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Egypt in Alexandria.

The Warriors won the friendly 2-1 and lost the World Cup qualifier with the same scoreline in March.  

SQUAD

Maxwell Nyamupanedengu, Liberty Chirava, Hardlife Zvirekwi, Augustine Mbara, Felix Chindungwe, Eric Chipeta, Godfrey Moyo, Kelvin Moyo, Nicholas Guyo, Silas Songoni, Ronald Chitiyo, Masimba Mambare, Devon Chafa, Nicholas Alifandika, Nelson Maziwisa, Tawanda Nyamandwe, Trust Matizanadzo, Last Chibwiro. -
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