AmaZulu forward Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya, despite a somewhat unforgettable 2025, didn’t make it to be in the final Warriors squad for AFCON, announced by ZIFA today.
Romanian mentor Mario Marinica named the squad that will do duty at the 35th edition of the biannual tournament, which will take place in Morocco from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026.
Ngwenya scored nine goals in the 2025 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League before Usuthu came knocking and snapped up the gifted forward, back in July.
Across the Limpopo, the 22-year-old, in just four months in the South African Premiership, netted four league goals.
He also scored three goals in the 2025 Cosafa Cup in South Africa and even featured in the last World Cup qualifiers under sacked German mentor Michael Nees.
Simba Bhora’s Emmanuel Ziocha, one of the best players in the 2025 league campaign and somewhat deserving of the Soccer Star of the Year award second runner-up, will also not be on the plane to Morocco.
Despite insiders in the Warriors camp insisting that Ziocha impressed the Marinica-led technical team in camp in the build up to the squad announcement, the Mbare-bred forward’s name was not on the final list.
The one player who was on the list, to the surprise of many football stakeholders, is Scottland’s Tadiwa Chakuchichi.
The 16-year old youngster made less than six appearances in the league for Mabviravira, as Tonderai Ndiraya’s troops won the title in their debut season.
As a matter of fact, Chakuchichi was not even the most promising player at Scottland, as his teammate Mafious Chihweta was named the overall league’s Most Promising Player.
Chakuchichi spent the better part of 2025 training with Scottland’s developmental side in Division 2.
Chakuchichi, despite every superlative in the dictionary being used to hype him ahead of the Cosafa U-17 tournament back in September, flopped at the regional tournament and failed to inspire Zimbabwe to go beyond the group stages of the regional youth tournament.
But somehow, he is deemed to be worthy of a place in the Warriors squad for AFCON.
What justification can Marinica give football-loving Zimbabweans that Chakuchichi deserves a place in the Warriors squad for the biggest continental showpiece?
What criteria was used in the selection of the final squad, that which justifies the inclusion of Chakuchichi ahead of Ngwenya and Ziocha?
The only thing that perhaps makes Chakuchichi’s selection look ‘normal’ is the shock inclusion of forgotten Alec Mudimu and Ishmael Wadi.
Until he rejoined CAPS United in July, not many knew where Wadi was playing since his last Warriors involvement in January 2022.
Mudimu on the other hand, was last in the Warriors set up at the AFCON 2021 finals where he didn’t play a minute, only to turn up for a week in November and secure a place at the 2025 finals.
Soccer star of the year first runner-up Kevin Moyo and other local centre backs should be wondering what exactly they have to do to be considered worthy of the Warriors strip.
