Zimbabwe international forward Macauley Bonne has requested to be excused from next week’s 2017 Afcon qualifiers against Swaziland.
The Colchester United striker becomes the latest England-based player to snub national duty after Everton defender Brendan Galloway and Burnley right-back Tendayi Darikwa also turned down coach Callisto Pasuwa’s call.
Bonne who however has one Warriors cap under his belt was cleared by his club to join the national team but asked Warriors manager Sharif Mussa to be excused.
“Please note that 27 players has been called into camp, and unfortunately Brendon Galloway and Tendayi Darikwa are unable to participate in these back to back clashes. Galloway has already been selected for the England U21 but should he decide otherwise and opt to play for our senior team in future, the door is still open for him,” said Mussa.
“Tendayi Darikwa was very keen to play for Zimbabwe but at the moment he has some pressing family issues to attend to hence he will not be available for the clashes against Swaziland. Macauley Bonne has been released by his team and is willing to participate but unfortunately he has some personal issues to solve. Hopefully, he will finish in time and join the training camp. However he has communicated to be excused at the moment to finalize his issues. We will advise the public about his availability during the course of the week.”
Bonne played his only game for the Warriors in November 2014 in an international friendly match against Morocco in which he scored.
