HARARE, Zimbabwe, Jan 7 – Marvelous Nakamba will not be available for Zimbabwe’s opening Afcon 2017 Group B match against Algeria next Sunday evening due to suspension.
Nakamba has been impressive form in Europe, getting regular game time at Netherlands top-flight club Vitesse, so much so that he has been linked by the media to teams such as Everton, Wolfsburg, Hamburg and Anderlecht.
But the Hwange-born 22-year-old former Bantu Rovers player will not get the chance to impress watching scouts and television audiences in Zimbabwe’s opening game after having accumulated two yellow cards during the qualification stages.
The Confederation of African Football sent the following confirmation to the Zimbabwe Football Association: “Seeing that your team has qualified to the final tournament of the Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon 2017, the said player is suspended for the first match of Zimbabwe in the frame of Afcon final tournament scheduled for January 2017.
“For having received two cautions in two different matches in the frame of this competition [matches No 153 and 24] player No 15 Marvelous Nakamba is automatically suspended for one match.”
Warriors coach Calisto Pasuwa is expected to go for a central midfield of Willard Katsande and Danny Phiri, with Kudakwashe Mahachi and Khama Billiat the wing players.
After the Algeria match on 15 January, Zimbabwe meet Senegal four days later before finishing their group-stage campaign against Tunisia on 23 January.
-By Kwese Sport-