admin
Many of the local fans got their first glimpse, of the man whose Dream Team would go on to shake their football landscape, on television as he barked instructions from the touchline in the Egyptian city of Ismailia.
His first game in charge of the Young Warriors was against Uganda and Fabisch and his boys powered to an impressive 2-1 win in their Group A tie.
But it was the second game, against hosts Egypt, where Fabisch built a solid foundation, for a special relationship with local football fans, which would survive the test of time and last until the very final day when he lost his battle against cancer in Germany on July 12, 2008.
In the ‘80s, Zimbabwean national football teams had tried, and failed, to beat their opponents from North Africa but all that changed on September 23, 1991, when the Young Warriors upstaged their Egyptian counterparts 3-2 in a pulsating game.
That the Young Warriors could do that, on Egyptian soil, made their achievement all the more remarkable and, suddenly, there was a spike in interest, from home, in their campaign and Fabisch, the architect of that sensational result, turned into an instant hero.
Also see . . .
Although they lost their final group game, 0-1, against Nigeria, the Young Warriors qualified for the semi-finals where they were beaten 1-3 by Tunisia, in a very controversial match, which appeared to destroy their spirits and barely competed, in the battle for bronze, as they crashed 0-3 at the hands of the Nigerians.
The Young Warriors failed in their medal hunt but had done enough, to win the hearts of their fans, and they were feted as heroes when they returned home and Fabisch’s romantic flirtation with Zimbabwean football was well and truly underway.
Twenty-two years after Fabisch made his mark in Egypt, while taking charge of a troop of young but talented Zimbabwean footballers, the Land of the Pharaohs provide the stage, once again, for a German coach, in charge of a Zimbabwe national football team, to make his mark.
Dieter-Klaus Pagels, at 63, is 22 years older than what Fabisch was when he arrived in Egypt and walked into our hearts with a powerful performance, as the conductor of the orchestra, playing a distinct beat that appealed to all of us and made us dance and believe.
Pagels doesn’t carry the territorial knowledge of African football that Fabisch possessed, thanks to his time as the coach of the Kenya national team, when he arrived for his dance with the Young Warriors and earned his stripes as a coach whom we could invest all our trust in to take the Warriors forward.
But while Fabisch took his lessons on the frontline, plunging into battle soon after his arrival here, Pagels has been in this country for the past two years and knows exactly where we are coming from, and where we are trying to go, as a football nation.
What they have in common is that they are all German coaches, have Egypt as the stage to make the first impression and, while their acts might have come two decades apart, they both started their journey taking charge of a group of young Zimbabwean players.
Pagels’ captain, Denver Mukamba, is only 20, arguably the youngest player to be given such an honour in this country and only turns 21 on December 21 this year, his first-choice midfielder, Archford Gutu, is officially 19 and does not turn 20 until August 5 this year.
His main striker, Knowledge Musona is still only 22 and doesn’t turn 23 until June 21 while his other key forward, Khama Billiat, is also still 22 and will only turn 23 on July 12 this year.
All these players would still have qualified to play for the Young Warriors had the All-Africa Games been held in Egypt, as was the case with Fabisch and his troops 22 years ago, today.
Ovidy Karuru, at 24, now even looks like an elder statesman of the team.
It’s the youthfulness of this team, and the freshness it brings, which opens that window of hope that they could spring a huge surprise, just like Fabisch and his boys 22 years ago, and beat the Egyptians in their backyard in tonight’s 2014 World Cup qualifier.
Only on Saturday, a 17-year-old Kenyan, Francis Kahata, curled home a superb free-kick to silence African champions Nigeria, in their first home game since being crowned kings of football on the continent, and give the Harambee Stars a 1-0 lead in their World Cup qualifier.
The Nigerians, for all the stars in their line-up, had to wait until the third minute of time added on to find an equaliser as a brave Kenya, who had their coach sent off for questioning some of the refereeing decisions, stole a point from the home of the African champions.
Pagels and his youth brigade have to seize the initiative tonight and rather than withdraw into a shell because they are playing at the home of the seven-time African champions, they need to believe they can go out there and not only match their hosts but, like Central African Republic, even post a victory in Alexandria.
It’s a huge test, for Pagels’ tiki taka, the flowing game of short passes and movement perfected by the magicians of Catalonia, otherwise known around the world as Barcelona, and if his boys can control possession, which is what his philosophy demands, then they can fancy their chances of an upset.
If Pagels and his men can seize the moment, and come out with a positive result, they would have built a foundation that will give their coach the freedom to continue with his experiments and his programme to rebuild a team that in recent years has, at best, flattered, and at worst, deceived its army of loyal fans.
The soundbites from some of the game’s leaders have bordered on negativity, with their focus somehow zoomed on the possibility that the Warriors would not only lose but were certainly facing a possible embarrassment in this World Cup qualifier.
They appear to have been left behind by the winds of change that have been sweeping across the entire African football landscape where, suddenly, even Egypt are not guaranteed a place at the Nations Cup and can miss, not one, but two consecutive finals.
Suddenly Tanzania can demolish Morocco 3-1, as was the case at the weekend, and little Lesotho can bravely fight back to pick a point, in a 1-1 draw, against former African champions Zambia in Maseru, and Mozambique, even without scoring for a third straight World Cup qualifier, can steal a point from Guinea in Maputo.
That result pushed the Warriors to the bottom of their World Cup group, after the Mambas picked a second point to leapfrog us and move into third place, and you feel the time is ripe for Pagels and his men to respond and make a huge statement.
A victory for the Warriors dramatically alters the complexion of the group and not only blows it wide open again but gives Zimbabwe, who hosts Egypt in their next match, a real chance of staging a remarkable comeback and winning the group.
Very few people are holding out any hopes for Pagels and his men to plunge into the Pharaohs’ den, in Alexandria tonight, and come out with a sensational victory after beating the Egyptians in a thriller.
But noone believed little Central African Republic would plunge into the Pharaohs’ den, in Alexandria, and come out with a sensational victory, just a few months ago, after beating the Egyptians in a five-goal thriller.
Noone believed, too, that Fabisch and his Young Warriors would plunge into the Pharaohs’ den, in Ismailia, and come out with a sensational victory, 22 years ago, after beating the Egyptians in a five-goal thriller.
For Pagels this is his defining moment and he has to seize it.
For the Warriors this is their defining moment, in the battle for a place in Brazil next year, and they have to seize it.
It has been done before and, even though it’s very difficult, it can be done again.
After all Fabisch and his blokes did it.
Online Reporter