‘British Brigade’: Do we really need some of them?

The ‘British Brigade’ is arguably one of the most used phrases in Zimbabwean football.

Warriors fans get goosebumps every time that phrase is mentioned either in an article or in a discussion on how the senior men’s national soccer team can get better.

After all that is every football fan’s wish isn’t it?

The ‘British Brigade’ is the collective name used to refer to British-born players who are eligible to play for Zimbabwe at senior level.

The manner in which some of them have responded to the call for national duty leaves a lot to be desired however and can mirror the one sided love shown to them by the local football family, which is obviously not reciprocated.

Admittedly and objectively speaking, no sane football fan can question the commitment shown by in particular Tendayi Darikwa, Cliff Moyo and Admiral Muskwe to Warriors duty.

In fact, one has to do proper research to figure out if Moyo ever featured in a competitive Warriors game, though that hasn’t stopped the Kidderminster Harriers defender from showing up for national duty.

The same cannot be said of Macauley Bonne though. The striker has provided a catalogue of excuses for snubbing Warriors call ups for the past three years and even getting a Zimbabwean passport has not changed all that.

As a matter of fact, it is actually believed that the Queens Park Rangers striker has already excused himself for the  blockbuster AFCON qualifiers against Algeria slated for next month.

Kundai Benyu was called for Warriors duty on countless occasions when he was at Scottish giants Celtic but for reasons best known to himself, he has never been seen in the gold and green strip.

The dreadlocked midfielder has conveniently obtained a Zimbabwean passport and made himself available for the Algeria games, now that he is at English 5th tier side Wealdstone.

Who can be blamed for concluding that Benyu now wants to use the Warriors as leverage to get a better club?

Swansea’s Tivonge Rusheshe openly chose to represent Wales while Notts County’s Adam Chiksen is now 29 years old but for some reason, he hasn’t played for the Warriors.

Respectfully to some of the ‘British Brigade’ players and their reasons for not showing up; maybe Alec Mudimu’s commitment has made us expect too much from them, but do we really need their services?

Copyright © Soccer24, 2024. All Rights Reserved
NEWS MATCHCENTRE TABLES VIDEOS