B-Metro
Fungai Muderere
FORMER Warriors and Kaizer Chief captain Willard Katsande has retired from professional football.
Katsande (36) is reportedly set to be named a brand ambassador for Sekhukhune United.
The Zimbabwean midfielder was omitted from the Sekhukhune squad for the 2022/23 season that was announced on Wednesday.
According to reports in South Africa, Katsande has decided to hang up his boots and take the administration role.
The player joined Babina Noko from Kaizer Chiefs at the beginning of last season and made eighteen appearances to help the club fight to survive the chop in the DStv Premiership in their maiden season.
At Chiefs, he spent ten years where he won two league titles, the Nedbank Cup and the MTN8.
Katsande also played for the now-defunct Ajax Cape Town for a year after joining the side from Zimbabwe.
In the local top-flight, he featured for Gunners and won the league title with the side in 2009.
In 2017, the gritty midfielder announced his retirement from the national team following Zimbabwe’s crashing exit from the Gabon AFCON 2017.
Katsande led the team as the Warriors could only manage a point at AFCON in all its three matches – which started with an impressive 2-2 draw against Algeria, then a disappointing 2-0 loss to Senegal before ending with a crashing 4-2 defeat at the hands of Tunisia.
He made his senior debut in 2009 before going on to amass 19 caps. He could only manage one AFCON final. He featured prominently at AFCON 2012 qualifiers which Zimbabwe failed to make the grade.
