Online Reporter
Sports Reporter
Algeria……………(3) 3
Zimbabwe………..(0) 1
SUPER Mario became the first foreign coach, in the history of the Warriors, to concede THREE goals in the first half of his debut match, in a friendly in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last night.
The Romanian gaffer, a controversial pick for the job to guide the Warriors at the AFCON finals next month, was given a baptism of fire by the Algerians in the first half of his first match in charge.
By the time the referee blew to give the players a breather, Super Mario, whose real name is Marian Marinica, had already seen his team concede three times and fired blanks in reply.
To his credit, he shuffled his pack after the break, withdrawing four players – Tawanda Maswanhise, Sean Fusire, Bill Antonio and Washington Navaya – and the Warriors improved.
He brought in teenager Prosper Padera, veteran Godknows Murwira, Tawanda Chirewa and Prince Dube just after the break.
Chirewa converted from the spot in the 86th minute.
Super Mario’s employers will argue that the second half performance shows that the coach will make a difference to the team once he settles into the job.
Ahead of the game, Super Mario had promised that he was going to unleash a refreshing brand of attacking football.
But, as that first half nightmare unfolded, all that appeared to have been noise coming from an empty shell.
Ironically, Super Mario’s last game was against Algeria in a 2025 AFCON qualifier when he was still in charge of Liberia.
A 1-5 thrashing in Tizi Ouzou meant that Liberia finished the campaign bottom of their group and Super Mario was fired by the West Africans.
In the two group games against the Algerians, Super Mario’s men conceded eight goals, and scored one, en-route to ending the campaign as the worst team in their group.
Ironically, his first game for his new employers, was against the same Algerians.
And, in that first half blitz, the Romanian must have feared that this could be another five-goal thrashing.
He must also be sick and tired of Baghdad Bounedjah, the big Algerian centre forward who plays his football in Qatar.
He fired his team into the lead in the 14th minute yesterday.
Bounedjah was also on target, in that 1-5 humiliation which led to Super Mario being fired by Liberia.
He also scored in the Desert Foxes’ 3-0 win over the West Africans in Monrovia.
Yesterday’s result means Super Mario’s teams have now conceded 11 goals, in three games, against the Algerians.
