New Zimbabwe manager Mario Marinică has left Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Marshall Munetsi out of the squad for AFCON.
He picked up an injury earlier this month and there were concerns over his availability. The 29-year-old has expressed his disappointment over being left out of the final list.
Zimbabwe’s The Herald, relayed by L’Equipe, provide more on the Wolves player missing out on the tournament in Morocco.
Despite the midfielder having been national team vice-captain, Marinică, who joined The Warriors last month, left him out for November’s international break.
Munetsi featured regularly during AFCON qualifiers and was captain in three matches. The Herald reports the former Stade de Reims player decided to play the qualifiers despite issues off the pitch.
Despite reports that he’s injured, Munetsi wanted to be evaluated by Zimbabwe’s medical staff. The Wolves man had tried to persuade Marinică to include him in the list but wasn’t successful.
Taking these factors into account, the report says he ‘feels betrayed’ to have not made it to the Zimbabwe squad.
“We managed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, and to be deprived of that, my wife and I, is something I can’t even put into words,” he said.
“My club didn’t tell me I couldn’t play in the group stage; they just said the first match would be risky.
“It’s nothing serious, and I’m not in any pain. It’s just the club trying to be cautious. I don’t think it’s about football anymore. The national team doesn’t want me. Don’t forget that Spain called up Lamine Yamal even after Barca announced his injury. It’s time for me to move on.”
Wolves are currently bottom of the table, trailing 17th placed Nottingham Forest by 13 points.
