ZIMBABWE OUT OF AFCON 2023 QUALIFIERS

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Zimbabwe are out of the 2023 edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Ivory Coast after their suspension was not lifted before the start of the qualifying matches in their group. Alongside Kenya, Zimbabwe were suspended by world football’s governing body, FIFA. The two countries were part of the draw for the 2023 AFCON qualifiers despite their temporary suspension from all football activities on the international stage by FIFA.


On May 23, 2022, African football’s governing body, CAF, officially announced that Kenya and Zimbabwe won’t be part of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers after the FIFA suspension for each of the two countries was not lifted. It had earlier been established that the FIFA suspension must be lifted two weeks before the start of their respective qualifying matches. (more…)

NAKAMBA MISSES OUT ON DERBY DEFEAT

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Zimbabwe midfielder MarvellousNakamba was a major absentee for Aston Villa during their derby defeat at the hands of hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League last weekend. The Zimbabwe international was not in the squad as Aston Villa suffered a third successive league loss with the 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the Midlands Derby.


Villa have been without Nakamba for several months due to the knee injury sustained towards the end of last year. The injury made him miss the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cameroon earlier this year as Zimbabwe crashed out at the group stage.Nakamba recently recovered from the knee problem, but he’s not considered fit for the Premier  League yet due to the lack of match fitness. (more…)

ASTON VILLA MIDFIELDER LINKED WITH SUMMER EXIT

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Aston Villa midfielder Marvelous Nakamba has reportedly been linked with a summer move away from the club as he continues to find it hard to cement his starting role at Villa Park. The midfielder’s future at the club became very unclear following the sacking of Dean Smith and it was since then that speculations started to surround his stay at the club. Steven Gerrard was appointed as the new manager at Villa Park, and it was always expected that he would bring in his own players, casting doubts over the future of some of the existing players at the club, including that of Nakamba.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E9JGAPYWQAI5xI1.jpg

Gerrard did complete a couple of signings at Villa Park in the January winter transfer window and one of the signings he made was Barcelona star and his former teammate at Liverpool, Phillipe Coutinho. The Brazilian midfielder, who has continued to struggle for years at the Camp Nou, jumped at the opportunity to return to England to play for Aston Villa and he has hit the ground running since then.
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VILLA: NAKAMBA FEATURES AGAIN FROM START

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Zimbabwe national team midfielder MarvellousNakamba has been one of the early beneficiaries of a new manager at Aston Villa after he was given another Premier League start despite the return of Douglas Luiz from injury.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEnR_X_X4AA1G1P.jpg

Aston Villa have a new manager in Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard after Dean Smith was dismissed following a poor run of five consecutive league defeats. Zimbabwe star Nakamba was not a regular in the Villa starting XI under Smith. Nakamba is a defensive midfielder by trade and Brazilian international Douglas Luiz was the first choice defensive midfielder while Dean Smith was the Aston Villa manager.
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VILLA UNBEATEN RUN ENDED AT SPURS

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Aston Villa were unable to build on a fantastic away win over Manchester United in the Premier League as their unbeaten run came to an end as a result of the 2-1 defeat suffered at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.


Villa were on the run of a two-game unbeaten run before they faced Tottenham Hotspur at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The run began with the emphatic home win over Everton thanks to the second half goals from Englishman Matty Cash, Lucas Digne (own goal) and Jamaican winger Leon Bailey. Villa were able to hand Everton their first defeat of the season. The win over Everton was followed by the fantastic win over Manchester United thanks to the second half header from Kourtney Hause. (more…)

NAKAMBA SAYS ASTON VILLA WILL BE BRAVE THIS SEASON

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It is usually not easy for any team to have a star player in their squad and then sell them to their rivals in the league. However, for a mid-table team like Aston Villa, the case is usually different as it is more difficult to keep a star player at such clubs when they already have the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City lurking around trying to prize the player away from his club. That was the case for the Villans this summer as they lost their best player and captain Jack Grealish to last season’s English Premier League title winners Manchester City following a £100 million bid from the Cityzens which was eventually accepted.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGrQ9yeWkAAfcQQ.jpg

Villa initially held a stance that they were not interested in selling Grealish this summer but could not hold on any longer as City met their asking price for the player. The attacking midfielder also didn’t make the matter an easy one to handle for his former side as he let the cat out of the bag and openly revealed his desire to join Pep Guardiola’s team so he can boost his chances of winning titles in his career.
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ASTON VILLA MIDFIELDER VOWS TO FIGHT FOR HIS PLACE

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Every club in the English Premier League is currently in the business of revamping and reshuffling their squads and Aston Villa have not been left out. The club have continued to be on the lookout for possible squad additions and their manager Dean Smith has promised the fans that they will not be left out when it comes to convincing their targets to make the switch to Villa Park starting from this summer. However, while it has excited fans, it also calls for some of the club’s current players to be alert because their place in the team could just be under huge threat, and one of those players who feel that threat is midfielder Marvelous Nakamba.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EvQdLO7XEAMu-NM.jpg

Zimbabwe international midfielder Nakamba has admitted to being under subtle pressure at the club, with reports continuing to suggest that there could be a number of incomings at the club. The midfielder recently revealed that he knows what it means for the club to sign new players and he will only have to get ready to compete with a potential rival and fight for his place in the team.
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SMITH HEAPS PRAISE ON NAKAMBA AFTER VILLA BEAT SPURS

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Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has praised his Zimbabwe international midfielder Marvelous Nakamba for his role in their fine away win against Tottenham in the Premier League. The manager was in a jubilant mood and expressed how delighted he was with his players after they staged a remarkable comeback win against Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the 37th matchday of the English Premier League.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E0tyLo8XEAAFwuL.jpg

Tottenham seemed like they were going to claim another impressive home win under the management of interim manager Ryan Mason after Steven Bergwijn slotted home a fine finish after just eight minutes into the match. Nakamba was partly the cause of the early goal but the Zimbabwean midfielder decided not to dwell on that and chose to try to amend his mistake.
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LUSAKA DYNAMOS EMERGE AS ABSA CUP CHAMPIONS

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It was an interesting game of football and one deserving to be called a cup final as two Zimbabwean heavyweight football clubs Lusaka Dynamos and Zesco United clashed on the pitch for Cup glory. The ABSA Cup is one that saw us witness a lot of drama and exciting football as the participating clubs gave their best but it all got down to two of the best clubs of the competition, but of course, there had to be only one winner.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzPgsDgVcAA9tHB.jpg

The tie between Zesco United, the last winners of the cup, and new champions, Lusaka Dynamos, was one worthy of a watch as both sides battled it out player-for-player. Right from the kick-off whistle, tempers already started to flare as it turned out to be a physical battle at some point. With footballing brilliance being the eventual yardstick to separate the winner from the loser, the game finally came to an end with the Dynamos being crowned as champions.
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QATAR 2022: HOW ZIMBABWE CAN QUALIFY

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Zimbabwe have already started their journey towards qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar. The journey to qualify for Qatar 2022 started for Zimbabwe in the first round of the African qualifiers for the tournament due to their low position in the FIFA Rankings. They were drawn against Somalia in the first round and were able to progress to the second round after a 3-2 aggregate win over the two legs played in 2019. Anwar Shakunda gave Somalia a 1-0 lead at home at the end of the first leg but Zimbabwe were able to respond in the second leg after a brief scare. Zimbabwe won the second leg 3-1 at home to secure passage into the next round. Marshall Munetsi, Admiral Muskwe and KhamaBilliat were the goalscorers for Zimbabwe, while Somalia got what proved to be mere consolation goal in the second leg through Omar Mohammed.

For the second round, four teams have been drawn into each group and there are ten groups in total. At the end of proceedings in each group, the group winner will advance into the third and final round of the African qualifiers. Zimbabwe can’t afford any slipups in their own group if they want to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history ahead of the next edition in Qatar at the end of next year. The World Cup 2022 tournament in Qatar starts on November 21 and ends on December 18. Zimbabwe have a tough group to navigate after they were drawn with the likes of Ghana, South Africa and Ethiopia in Group G. Only the group winner will qualify for the next round.
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