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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
Highlanders look resigned to surrendering Baltemar Brito to the Zifa Normalisation Committee, who are running out of time to appoint a Warriors coach for immediate assignments in CHAN and World Cup qualifiers.
The Portuguese coach has emerged the front-runner for the hot seat following a round of interviews conducted by the ZIFA Normalisation Committee in the last few days.
And on Tuesday, the Normalisation Committee chairman Lincoln Mutasa wrote to his Bosso counterpart Johnfat Sibanda indicating they were eager to engage the 71-year-old until the end of their tenure in June next year, and pave the way for the incoming ZIFA board to make their own substantive appointments without interference.
There was no official comment from Bosso last night following a meeting of the executive to discuss an approach by the interim Zifa leadership.
“The Normalization Committee would like to request your Executive permission to engage one of your employees in the name of Brito Baltemar Jose Oliveira for a possible appointment as the interim Senior Men National Teams Coach. Whereas he has indicated he is in permanent employ of your esteemed organization.
“It is in that light of integrity we hereby pray you shall find it beneficial to release him for envisaged national duty during this interim Normalization period,” wrote Mutasa.
Highlanders spokesperson Nozibelo Maphosa said the club was still to respond to ZIFA’s request.
“We have received the letter from ZIFA and we are yet to respond to their request. Brito is contracted to Highlanders until the end of the year,” she said. But Bosso chairman Johnfat Sibanda told our Bulawayo Bureau they will not stand in the way of their coach.
“This is an honour to us Highlanders and a huge seal of approval to the entire system. We take this with pride hence our non-hesitation to agree to have the coach take up this huge responsibility of driving our senior national team as it resumes its duties after the unfortunate suspension by FIFA,” said Sibanda.
Brito is probably the most qualified among the coaches in the domestic league. His curriculum vitae was enhanced by his working associations with legendary Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho.
The Bosso coach is a UEFA Pro coaching licence holder with vast experience, having worked as Mourinho’s assistant at FC Porto in Portugal, Chelsea in England, and Inter Milan in Italy.
During that spell, he won two UEFA Champions League titles, one UEFA Cup, two English Premier League titles, as many Portuguese and Italian Championships, and one FA Cup.
If Bosso grants the request, Brito would need to start work as soon as possible to prepare the Warriors for the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers set for November.
The news of Brito’s appointment also divided fans yesterday with some in support and the other section pessimistic, as they feel ZIFA should go for a coach with a strong reputation, and drawing comparisons with South Africa’s Hugo Broos and Avram Grant of Zambia.
Apart from his associations with long-time friend Mourinho, Brito was not able to entirely establish himself in the world of coaching.
At most he has been a nomadic coach, as his online profile shows. In June 2010, he was appointed head coach at C.F. Os Belenenses in the Portuguese second level, but was sacked the following month before the season had even started.
He also had stints at Al-Ittihad in Libya and Al-Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates and in May 2013, after a series of poor results, Brito was fired by Grêmio Esportivo Osasco in the fourth tier of the Sao Paulo State football league in Brazil. He returned to Al-Ittihad in 2013-14 season and the following year was assistant at Esperance in Tunisia. He left for Greece after one season to join AEK Athens as assistant for the 2016-17 season.
Then in January 2018, Brito became head coach at Union Titus Pétange in the first Luxembourgish league. He left the club in December 2018 and landed another role at Highlanders last year.
Brito is contracted to Bosso until the end of the year and will still be a Highlanders employee by the time the Warriors plunge into the World Cup qualifiers in November.
Zimbabwe are expected to return to international football when they play Rwanda away from home before they host Nigeria in group encounters of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
They will also play Nigeria, South Africa, Benin, Rwanda and Lesotho with the top team at the end of the round robin qualifiers qualifying to the World Cup finals to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.
The ZIFA Normalisation Committee is also set to appoint the Mighty Warriors coach today. The coach is expected to quickly select the players that will go into camp early next week ahead of the COSAFA Women’s Championship which will run from October 4 to 15 in South Africa.
Online Reporter