BY HENRY MHARA NATIONAL senior football team defender Patson Jaure is happy to be playing competitive football again after almost a year of inactivity and the Warriors can’t wait to face off with Cameroon tomorrow. The two clash in the curtain raiser of the African Nations Championships (Chan) tournament at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé at 6pm Zimbabwe time. “The lads are buzzing and can’t just wait to play,” said the Dynamos defender who is tipped to be handed the captain’s armband for this tournament. “Playing football is what we love as soccer players, and personally the past year has been one of the most difficult periods in my soccer career. I miss playing football,” Chan is a tournament reserved for players plying their trade in their domestic leagues. Zimbabwe’s domestic premier soccer league failed to kick-off last year due to the coronavirus outbreak. This season is also uncertain as the deadly virus continue to wreak havoc. “This is a chance for the few of us who were lucky enough to be chosen for this tournament to enjoy ourselves. The feeling is just great,” Jaure said from Yaoundé yesterday. The centre-back is tipped to be named captain for this assignment, a role he has played previously. The Warriors’ preparations for the tournament has been chaotic. Coach Zdravko Logarušić was forced to select players who have not played competitive football for the whole. Their camp was disrupted after some players and officials contracted the coronavirus. They only returned to training on Saturday, a week before the start of the tournament. But in spite of all that, Jaure is still hopeful that the team will get post positive results. “Morale is high, and we are ready to compete. Like I said, we had missed playing football too much. We have had problems with the coronavirus, but this is the situation that we are in and as hard as it may sound we should embrace it and remain positive. I think we have good players who can compete despite all the problems that we have encountered in our camp.” Jaure predicts a tough opening match against the hosts who will be cheered on by their supporters after the Confederation of African Football this week announced that fans will be allowed into stadiums. “With or without the supporters, this match was always going to be tough. Cameroon are a very good side and their supporters will push them. We are ready to suffer in this match. It’s our first group match and it’s very key that we get a positive result. We will work hard to get a positive result. We are really motivated for this match,” he added. The Zimbabwean delegation left Harare on Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Cameroon yesterday around midday after a stop-over in Ethiopia. Zimbabwe are in Group A which also has Mali and Burkina Faso. Zimbabwe t face Burkina Faso on Wednesday before concluding their group stages campaign against Mali on Sunday with the top two teams progressing to the quarterfinals. Warriors Chan squad Goalkeepers: Ariel Sibanda (Highlanders), Simba Chinani (Dynamos), Nelson Chadya (Ngezi) Defend