ZIMBABWE WARRIORS coach Michael Nees is closely monitoring possible national team candidates and used the weekend to finalise on his squad for the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying assignments.
The gaffer is on Wednesday expected to announce an enlarged squad for the African Zone Group C qualifiers against Benin and Nigeria.
Zimbabwe will first host Benin at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, on March 20 before they play Nigeria in Uyo five days later.
Nees, presiding over a World Cup assignment with Zimbabwe for the first time, has a huge task to help the Warriors move from the bottom of Group C. The Warriors only have two points, five behind leaders Rwanda after four games.
But the 57-year-old German coach deliberately delayed announcing his men for the two assignments as he sought to first monitor the readiness of the footballers, especially those playing on the domestic front.
The Castle Lager Premiership is only two weeks old after a two-month off-season break and Nees is concerned about the players’ match-fitness levels, which he first wanted to analyse before making any move.
Last week the former Seychelles gaffer watched three games and is in line to observing three more, including the showdown between CAPS United and Scottland at Rufaro Stadium today.
Nees said the Warriors have three groups of players — overseas-based ones, the local contingent and those based in South Africa and Tanzania.
“We have a diverse team.
“I said it before — a three-group team — diverse in terms of the fact that you have a group from overseas, that is Europe, Teenage (Hadebe), also from USA, and General (Gerald Takwara), now in Iraq.
“Then we have the South African group. Then we have the local group.
“Every group, the situation is different,” he said.
Nees highlighted the challenges in assessing player readiness, particularly within the local group, as the season has only just begun.
“For the local group, the season hasn’t yet started properly. It just started last week. So, we watched three games (last week).
“Here is the mystery with me — three games. We drove up and down.