Zimbabwe ready for Egypt's World Cup qualifier, says coach

Ahram Online, Thursday 21 Mar 2013

German manager Klaus-Dieter Pagels will be watching Egypt's friendly game against Swaziland before Zimbabwe visit for World Cup qualifier Tuesday

coach
Zimbabwe's coach Klaus-Dieter Pagels (Photo: Reuters)

Zimbabwe coach Klaus-Dieter Pagels said he is confident in his squad ahead of the anticipated clash against Egypt in African qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, scheduled for Tuesday in Borg El-Arab stadium in Egyptian coastal city Alexandria.

"The Egyptians are in training and on Friday they will play Swaziland in Cairo. We will see if the match will be televised or someone will have to go and watch the match in Cairo," the German tactician was quoted as saying on All-Africa Thursday.

Lacking key players like Quincy Antipas, Simba Sithole and Matthew Rusike due to injury, the Warriors manager said they are ready to meet the holders of a seven Africa Cup of Nations record.

The Pharaohs are currently at the top of Group G with six points from two games, three ahead of Guinea. Zimbabwe and Mozambique have one point each.

"I don't think the injuries will have a big impact as we still have players from that friendly fit and ready to play a part and can achieve what we want," Pagels said.

"All the players from Dynamos are back and in good health and that was the only fear we had. All those players who featured in the match against Botswana know my style of football," he said. "In the midfield we have a lot of players and our defence has no problems; all the players I wanted are in good shape."

"In attack, we have Khama (Billiat), and Musona (Knowledge) but other tactical players such as Denver (Mukamba) and Karuru (Ovidy) are all players who can play attacking football and help upfront," Pagels explained.

"The weather conditions have dropped since they (advance party) arrived and it's now between 20 and 21 degree Celsius by day and 8 degrees Celsius by night, so we have to be prepared and take warm clothing for training. The match would be played at 7pm," said Pagels.

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