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News

Zimbabwe: Warriors Face Loga – allAfrica.com

todayOctober 25, 2024 2

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Amost three years after a nasty fallout, Croatian coach Zdravko “Loga” Logarusic is leaving no stone unturned ahead of the battle with his former paymasters Zimbabwe in the upcoming 2025 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.

Logarusic, who had a rather forgettable stint as the Warriors coach in 2021, is now in charge of Eswatini, who face Zimbabwe in the two-legged first round of the qualifiers.

The Warriors will host Sihlangu at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown on Sunday since the country does not have a CAF-approved venue for international football. Just like Zimbabwe, Eswatini are also without any CAF-approved facility.

This means the Warriors will then travel for the return leg a few days later in South Africa where Eswatini, have adopted Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga province since 2019.

In the build-up to the game, Logarusic, has picked 25 of the best-performing players in the Eswatini Premier League, which began a few weeks ago.

His team reported for camp on Monday after round five of the league games, which ended at the weekend.

Logarusic told journalists in Eswatini that he was looking beyond the first-round clash with Zimbabwe, to atone for the poor run by his team since his appointment at the end of August.

Under his watch, Eswatini are winless after losing three matches and drawing one in the four 2025 AFCON qualifying games they have played in Group I.

They have been eliminated from the qualifying matrix as a result. But Loga now believes CHAN, a second-tier competition exclusive to players in the domestic leagues around the continent, could offer an escape.

“We stand a better chance to qualify for CHAN than the other competitions,” he told journalists.

He is aiming to collect points from Zimbabwe and advance to the next qualifying round where the winners will face Madagascar in the final qualifying tie.

“Our focus is on the Zimbabwe match, and we will do our best to get positive results.

“I believe in the boys, and I am confident that they will recover on time for the trip to Zimbabwe since the players will be involved in the MTN Premier League,” said Logarusic.

Eswatini uses virtually the same players for all competitions including the AFCON and World Cup qualifiers.