AFCON: Zimbabwe Planning Friendly Marches Against S/Africa, Nigeria

Zimbabwe are in the process of negotiating friendly matches against South Africa and Nigeria ahead of Africa Cup of Nations finals, which kicks off in Egypt, in June.

Zimbabwe FA president Felton Kamambo says plans for a warm-up game against Bafana Bafana are at an advanced stage, while they are also angling for another match against the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

The date for the match against Bafana Bafana has already been set for May 26, while engagements with Nigeria are yet to reveal anything.

Kamambo also said they are also courting a third team to play before they head to Egypt for the tournament, which runs from June 21 to July 19.

“We are serious in our preparations for the Afcon tournament and we have quite a number of plans in place, some that I cannot talk about at the moment because of contractual agreements that first have to be met before going public,” Kamambo told The Herald.

“In terms of serious friendly matches, we actually have one against South Africa that we hope will come to fruition because plans are at an advanced stage.

“This is part of a joint send-off ceremony that we hope to have together with the South Africa national team that is also going to Afcon finals.

“A friendly match between the two teams will be played on the 26th of May the next day after the send-off ceremony slated for the 25th. We intend to have the friendly match here, but it is yet to be finalised.

“We will also go to Nigeria where we intend to play a game in Nigeria, but that is yet to be confirmed. We are still working on contractual agreements.

“I think we will play three serious friendly matches that will afford the coaches a chance to fine tune their squad ahead of the tournament.”

Zimbabwe are seeking to reach the Afcon knockout stage for the first time at this year’s continental showpiece.

To reach that goal the Warriors will first have to navigate Group A, in which they face hosts Egypt, DR Congo and Uganda.