HARARE - Zimbabwe national football team coach Ian Gorowa should come down hard on Willard Katsande and Kingston Nkhatha for snubbing a call-up to represent their country against Tanzania this weekend.
Gorowa had included the two Kaizer Chiefs players in his squad for the 2015 African Nations Cup (Afcon) qualifier against the Taifa Stars set for Dar es Salaam tomorrow.
Katsande and Nkhatha for different reasons, opted to pull out of the tie at the 11th hour disrupting Gorowa’s plans and preparations.
Players are allowed to be excused from national duty but the Kaizer Chiefs pair gave flimsy reasons for opting out.
The norm is when a player is injured while playing for a club, they are required to report for national duty and are assessed by the national team doctor.
It is the national team doctor in consultation with the club doctor who certifies whether a player is not able to take part in an international assignment or not.
Gorowa decided to completely drop the two out of his plans and work with the bulk of the local-based players who showed commitment by honouring their call-ups.
To send a clear message to other players who might also snub Warriors’ call-ups in the future, Gorowa must take further action against the AmaKhosi duo.
A four or five match-ban from the national team might be appropriate for Katsande and Nkhatha.
In the past week, we have seen a number of national coaches coming down hard on errant players when naming their respective 2014 World Cup squads.
France coach Didier Deschamps, who dropped midfielder Samir Nasri from the Les Bleus squad, is one coach who has taken a firm stance against player power.
Nasri was an influential figure in Manchester City’s title winning campaign in the just-ended English Premier League season but Deschamps dropped the 27-year-old from his squad due to the fact that he is not a “team player” and disrupts the harmony in the group if he is asked to start on the bench.
A host of big name players will not be in Brazil for different reasons with coaches wielding their axes to show that no one is indispensable.
The likes of Carlos Tevez, Diego Lopez, Kaka and Robinho all missed out.
Gorowa must also exercise his powers to see to it that Katsande and Nkhatha serve some sort of bans from the national team.