Warriors interim coach Norman Mapeza says he will have a chat with Ipswich Town FC striker Macauley Bonne to ascertain why he has previously snubbed national team call-ups.
Speaking to State media, Mapeza revealed that he didn’t call Bonne for the double-header World Cup qualifiers against Ghana this month after he was informed that the striker had shown an unwillingness to play for the national team. Said Mapeza:
When I was appointed coach, I was told that Bonne has constantly been snubbing call-ups, which is rather unfortunate.
So, when we called up the team for the Ghana match, we actually didn’t even consider him, but that does not mean the door has been completely shut for him.
We will consider him in future, but I still need to talk to him first. I need to hear his side of the story instead of relying on one source. I will talk to him and try to understand his reasons.
The in-form Bonne, with eight goals in 664 minutes of football this season for the League One side, was called up twice for national duty by former Warriors’ coach Zdravko Logarušic, but the forward chose not to respond.
Logarušic wanted Bonne for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Ethiopia, with the Warriors drawing 0-0 and losing 0-1 respectively.