{"id":52148,"date":"2021-12-29T19:45:28","date_gmt":"2021-12-29T17:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=52148"},"modified":"2021-12-29T18:25:41","modified_gmt":"2021-12-29T16:25:41","slug":"afcon-midfield-is-weak-khama-billiat-is-needed-fans-respond-to-mapezas-warriors-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/afcon-midfield-is-weak-khama-billiat-is-needed-fans-respond-to-mapezas-warriors-squad","title":{"rendered":"AFCON: Midfield Is Weak, Khama Billiat Is Needed \u2013 Fans Respond To Mapeza\u2019s Warriors Squad"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>Some Warriors fans have expressed concern over the final squad that was selected by head coach, Norman Mapeza, to participate at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals scheduled to start on the 9th of January next year.<\/p>\n

While some said the whole team was not strong enough to participate at Africa\u2019s biggest football tournament, most of the comments identified the midfield as the weakest department.<\/p>\n

They said Kaizer Chiefs\u2019 forward, Khama Billiat, was still needed to enhance Zimbabwe\u2019s chances of progressing from the group stages where the Southern African country has ended at three previous attempts.<\/p>\n

Khama Billiat retired from international football following Zimbabwe\u2019s dismal show in the World Cup qualifiers and ZIFA has reportedly been trying to lure him back.<\/p>\n

The squad announced this Wednesday suggests that the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) failed to convince the stylish midfield maestro.<\/p>\n

Other regular and senior players missing on the list include Aston Villa\u2019s defensive midfielder, Marvelous Nakamba and Reim de Stade\u2019s Marshal Munetsi who sustained injuries recently. Pindula News presents some of the responses to the squad:<\/p>\n

african @MapsInno:<\/b><\/p>\n

Khama was needed in that team seriously<\/p>\n

Admire Taguma Musingarabwi @admusinga<\/b><\/p>\n

Khama akatozo sara here?<\/p>\n

Jay Jay @jeffkudzi:<\/p>\n

I hope he makes an unexpected comeback to the team, anotodiwa kumberi uko<\/p>\n

Trevor wepaMarondera @TrevorLuke14:<\/b><\/p>\n

Where is Marshall Munetsi<\/p>\n

Les Chapata @LesChapata:<\/b><\/p>\n

Midfield ma1<\/p>\n

OPEN BOYS\u2122 @ZEROOH02:<\/b><\/p>\n

Midfield yedu ma1<\/p>\n

Mapeza dropped Knox Mutizwa (Golden Arrows), Bill Antonio (Dynamos), Shepherd Mhlanga (Chicken Inn), Panashe Mutimbanyoka (FC Platinum), Temptation Chiwunga (JDR Stars), Frank Makarati (Dynamos), and Tapiwa Sibanda (Cranborne).<\/p>\n

Petros Mhari, Peter Muduhwa, Godknows Murwira and Kelvin Madzongwe are the only locally-based players on their way to Cameroon<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Some Warriors fans have expressed concern over the final squad that was selected by head coach, Norman Mapeza, to participate at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals scheduled to start on the 9th of January next year. While some said the whole team was not strong enough to participate at Africa\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":52147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,16,15],"tags":[7865,1493,2189,1121,3767,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-52148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-homepage-english","9":"category-sport","10":"category-twitter","11":"tag-afcon-2021-cameroon","12":"tag-africa-press","13":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","14":"tag-khama-billiat","15":"tag-marshal-munetsi","16":"tag-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"\nAFCON: Midfield Is Weak, Khama Billiat Is Needed \u2013 Fans Respond To Mapeza\u2019s Warriors Squad - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some Warriors fans have expressed concern over the final squad that was selected by head coach, Norman Mapeza, to partic ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/afcon-midfield-is-weak-khama-billiat-is-needed-fans-respond-to-mapezas-warriors-squad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AFCON: Midfield Is Weak, Khama Billiat Is Needed \u2013 Fans Respond To Mapeza\u2019s Warriors Squad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some Warriors fans have expressed concern over the final squad that was selected by head coach, Norman Mapeza, to partic ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/afcon-midfield-is-weak-khama-billiat-is-needed-fans-respond-to-mapezas-warriors-squad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-29T17:45:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-29T16:25:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/12\/img-61cc8be042a7a.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/afcon-midfield-is-weak-khama-billiat-is-needed-fans-respond-to-mapezas-warriors-squad\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/afcon-midfield-is-weak-khama-billiat-is-needed-fans-respond-to-mapezas-warriors-squad\",\"name\":\"AFCON: Midfield Is Weak, Khama Billiat Is Needed \u2013 Fans Respond To Mapeza\u2019s Warriors Squad - 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