Zimbabwe recall Karuru to rescure World Cup campaign

Ovidy Karuru of Zimbabwe

Monday Sep 09, 2019. 17:00

Zimbabwe have called on experienced midfielder Ovidy Karuru and defender Ian Nekati to strengthen their squad as they seek to overturn a shock deficit at the hands of Somalia in their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier tie on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe left out a number of their top names from the first leg after the country’s football association ordered coach Joey Antipas to discard the likes of Karuru, Danny Phiri, Knowledge Musona, Talent Chawapihwa, George Chigova and Edmore Sibanda after they were fingered as being behind the mutiny that occurred at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Egypt.

But the 1-0 defeat away in Somalia, who won a first ever World Cup qualifier, has seen them in part relent and Karuru has been called to rescue the situation.

“We have included Ovidy and Ian in the squad to play against Somalia on Tuesday, Antipas told reporters.

“We needed to put reinforcements in the team but at the same time we didn’t want to make wholesale changes for cohesion purposes.

“We are quite sure the pair will add value to the team as we try to outdo Somalia and book a place in the World Cup group stages.”