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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
FORMER Warriors coach Ian Gorowa has hailed Callisto Pasuwa for his landmark success with the Young Warriors but warned that plunging him onto the minefield of taking charge of the country’s 2017 Nations Cup campaign could be a very risky exercise.Gorowa was Pasuwa’s boss during a successful 2014 CHAN campaign, in which the home-based Warriors beat Zambia in their backyard in the qualifiers, and then ended in fourth place at the finals in South Africa.
However, the Nations Cup qualifiers, for a place in Equatorial Guinea 2015 proved a hurdle too high as the Warriors, crashed out at the preliminary round after losing to lightweights Tanzania.
An acrimonious divorce between Gorowa and ZIFA followed, amid complaints by the coach that he hadn’t been paid for eight months, while Pasuwa remained in the trenches as coach of the national Under-23 team.
Pasuwa, who made history as the first coach to win four straight domestic Premiership titles as his Dynamos ruthlessly dominated the local front, defied the odds on Sunday as he led the Young Warriors to the All-Africa Games finals by eliminating continental heavyweights Cameroon.
What made his achievement even more remarkable was the fact that he was forced to field an under-strength team after a number of Premiership teams held on to the players he wanted for national duty.
With the Warriors without a substantive coach, just two months before they plunge into their 2017 Nations Cup campaign, and with ZIFA financially hamstrung to bring in an experienced foreign gaffer, the spotlight has fallen on Pasuwa to get the job of leading the senior national team.
Gorowa, who hand-picked Pasuwa as his deputy during his time as Warriors coach, congratulated his former assistant for the success story he wrote against Cameroon.
“I am always in touch with him and l congratulated him for his achievement,” Gorowa said.
“There is no doubt in my mind that he is a future national team coach but l don’t know whether it will be the right thing to rush him into that job now because the Under-23 level and national team levels are different and the challenges you face there are very different.
“Obviously, given ZIFA’s financial challenges right now, the easy option would be to make him the national team coach. But l feel that would be rushing him into a very difficult job where the pressure is relentless and you need the full support of the association and other stakeholders for you to be successful.
“It’s up to him to make up his mind and, as a very good friend, I have always known him to be someone who makes sound judgments and he will know what is good and what isn’t good for his career as a coach.
“He knows the challenges that we went through when l was working with him, the difficult environment where l ended up buying food for the boys in camp because there was nothing for their supper, and the lack of support, generally, from the association.
“On the flip side you can say that is an advantage since he knows the challenges that are there and he will be well equipped to handle them unlike a newcomer who will be overwhelmed by it all.”
Gorowa said the best option would have been to let Pasuwa concentrate on leading the Young Warriors, so that he learns as much as possible about the demands and challenges of leading a team on continental assignments, while preparing him for the big job of taking the Warriors one day.
“That is the formula that South Africa used with Shakes Mashaba and when he graduated into Bafana Bafana he knew exactly what was needed to take on the giants in African football and it has been quite successful,” said Gorowa.
“I would also expect ZIFA to help Callisto get as much coaching education, in terms of advancing his knowledge of the game, as possible and you can only do that when you are handling teams that have less pressure like the Under-23s.
“The senior national team is a different ball game altogether because here you are not only dealing with the emotions of an entire country but you also dealing with management of your own players, some of whom think they know more than the coach because of where they are coming from, and the threat of the best players from the opposition.
“For me l think if we settle for Pasuwa, which I think is the easy option right now for ZIFA, then we would need to ask Sunday (Chidzambwa) to come in as that experienced hand that has been there and knows how to handle such big assignments.”
Gorowa said the 2017 Nations Cup journey for the Warriors was a tough one because Guinea were always going to be a difficult side to beat while Malawi has improved.
“Guinea are always Guinea and will always be difficult opponents although l think they have the disadvantage this time that all their opponents are from this side and they have to make the long trips all the time,” said Gorowa.
“But Malawi have improved as a national team and, for me, they are the real tricky opponents of our group. They have been working hard to make themselves very competitive and l can tell you that they are quite tough these days.”
Online Reporter