Nakamba’s timely boost for Warriors 

Tadious Manyepo

ZIMBABWE skipper and midfield anchor Marvelous Nakamba has returned to full training, ending a long spell on the sidelines, with the news set to be greeted with excitement in the Warriors dressing room.

Although Nakamba will not be immediately thrown into the deep end at his English Championship side Luton Town, he has now fully recovered from a delicate meniscus injury that kept him out for a significant period last term.

His return to full training has given rise to expectations that he could bounce back and lead the Warriors as they begin their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign next month.

The Warriors are scheduled to kick off their bid for a place at next year’s Nations Cup in Morocco with an away assignment against Kenya’s Harambee Stars in Uganda on September 4.

They will then face five-time African champions Cameroon six days later at a venue yet to be determined by ZIFA, amid indications yesterday by the association’s chief executive officer, Yvonne Mapika Manwa, that they were weighing their options between Uganda and South Africa.

“We are still exploring both Uganda and South Africa and we should know before the end of the long weekend,” Manwa said.

But both Luton and Zimbabwe fans will be happy with the reports emerging from the Hatters camp that Nakamba is up and running again.

The midfield workhorse has already missed crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and South Africa, both of which the Warriors lost, due to the knee injury, which he picked up at Huye Stadium in Rwanda during Zimbabwe’s clash against Nigeria’s Super Eagles last November.

In the matches against Lesotho and South Africa, the Warriors’ shortcomings in defensive midfield were exposed, as there was insufficient cover for the defenders.

In fact, and in desperation, stand-in Warriors coach Jairos Tapera had to call in Ngezi Platinum Stars anchor Richard Hachiro for the South African game after his team was beaten 2-0 by Lesotho a few days earlier.

In the match against South Africa, Hachiro huffed and puffed, but could not effectively contain the South Africans, leaving his fellow defenders exposed in their 3-1 defeat.

But Nakamba’s imminent return is set to solve the Warriors’ problems in this area.

He is already back to his feet, but not yet match-fit, with Luton Town manager Rob Edwards confirming that he will miss the Hatters’ opening fixture against Burnley tomorrow.

Edwards said Nakamba will also have to train for weeks to attain the needed fitness levels before he can be thrown into the fray.

“It was just the nature of the injury, to be honest, but he is doing pretty well,” Edwards told lutontoday.co.uk.

“He had some good news last week, where he was able to really start building and progressing, but Marv’s (Nakamba) a different animal.

“We’ll use his fitness and getting him fit in training a little bit as well, that’s how we did it last season when we signed him permanently.

“So, he might not be too far off, but he will need to train for a number of weeks first. Hopefully, the training with us means he won’t be too far off, which is great.”

The former Bantu Rovers, Vitesse Arnhem and Club Brugge man is expected to play a key role in helping Luton Town quickly return to the Premiership.

He was pivotal to their Premiership campaign last season until the nasty knock on his knee put paid to hopes of helping the team survive relegation, as he was restricted to just 13 matches.

Without the contribution of the Zimbabwean’s industry in midfield, Luton eventually sunk into relegation.

Nakamba will be expected to once again carry them back into the top-flight in much the same way he did in the 2022/2023 season, when he was at the team, on loan from Aston Villa, before moving permanently on a three-year deal in July last year.

The same publication further noted that Nakamba is one of five Luton Town players who are missing for tomorrow night’s season opener against Burnley, together with Amari’i Bell, Mads Andersen, Reece Burke and Jacob Brown.

“They’re kind of getting that anyway. Things are different now, every club will be the same, they don’t go straight from the treatment table, straight on to the grass and training with us,” said Edwards.

“There’s obviously a big body of work and a lot of hard work with the S and C (strength and conditioning) coaches in that interim period before entering straight back into training with the first team.

“So, we hope and believe that when they’re with us and when they’re ready to be in that matchday squad, they’ll be ready. Game time will be lacking a little bit, but they’ll hopefully get that quickly within the games.”

Although Edwards is not ready to throw Nakamba into the fray, incoming Warriors coach Michael Nees will be hoping that his captain would have covered huge ground in order to be available to lead his country’s quest when the AFCON qualifiers start.

The AFCON games will be coming in thick and fast for the Warriors, as they will be completed between September and November.

Warriors 2025 AFCON

Qualifying Fixtures

September 2 to 10:

MD1. Kenya vs Zimbabwe

MD2. Zimbabwe vs Cameroon

October 7 to 15:

MD3. Namibia vs Zimbabwe

MD4. Zimbabwe vs Namibia

November 11 to 19:

MD5. Zimbabwe vs Kenya

MD6. Cameroon vs Zimbabwe