Chronicle Editor
LAST Saturday, Zifa president Felton Kamambo led a four-man delegation that gambled its way to South Africa in a bid to gatecrash the Cosafa annual general meeting which they had been barred from attending.
Needless to say, Kamambo and his men were humiliated, as they were stopped at the entrance of the AGM venue and herded away by security.
They tried to justify for their fruitless and wasteful expenditure by saying they met Fifa officials in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the Cosafa AGM and deliberated on the association’s debt restructuring roll over plan, processes Zifa must follow to cure the debt and other projects the association wants to pursue this year.
Whilst we were still trying to make sense of why Zifa officials wasted money by flying to Johannesburg when they had been told they were not welcome, then came the long-awaited announcement of the senior national football team, the Warriors’ coach.
Just like the gamble Zifa took in embarking on the ill-fated Johannesburg trip, the association this time went for a huge gamble by appointing little-known Croat Zdravko Logarusic to superintend over our Warriors on a two-year contract.
Zifa ought to pray without ceasing that the gamble they took with our Warriors pays off.
The 54-year-old Logarusic is virtually unknown in Zimbabwe, although this will be his second job coaching a national team after Sudan.
It was hilarious that Kamambo and his officials settled for a coach whose first name they can’t even pronounce.
While most local football lovers are still battling to pronounce his name, it makes sad reading that Logarusic was actually fired by Sudan in November 2019 after losing 0-1 to South Africa in a 2021 Afcon qualifier.
With an undecorated trophy cabinet or success record, the closest that Logarusic has been close to glory in about 11 years coaching on the African continent was a semi-final appearance with Sudan in the 2018 Chan finals in which they lost 1-0 to Nigeria.
The Croat has largely worked in Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania, taking charge of clubs, Ashanti Gold, Gor Mahia, King Faisal Babes, Simba SC, AFC Leopards and Asante Kotoko, with nasty divorces prominent in his sojourns.
Kamambo and crew should be warned that the nation is watching, and for Zifa, which almost always hogs the limelight for the wrong reasons and in desperate need for something positive, Logarusic has to deliver.
The Warriors job is not a Micky-Mouse project nor a post for someone with the hardest name to pronounce, but results oriented.
Now that Zifa has placed the joy of millions of Zimbabwean football lovers in the hands of the unknown Croat, let it be warned that it has drawn more scrutiny to the association and his performance could as well determine the fate of the present Zifa board.
Zimbabwe have been to the last two editions of the Afcon finals held in Gabon (2017) and Egypt (2019).
For the 2021 Afcon finals campaign, Zimbabwe look in control of their destiny, as they’re second in Group H behind continental champions Algeria, who are on six points from two games. The Warriors have six points, with Botswana third with a point, while Zambia, who have also hired a new coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic from Serbia, are searching for their first point.
Logarusic gets his first test next month when the Warriors engage in back-to-back clashes with Algeria, which will determine Zimbabwe’s chances of qualifying for the 2021 Afcon finals set for Cameroon.
The Warriors will then play Botswana in June, before wrapping up their qualifiers with a home tie against Zambia in September.
Logarusic will be in charge at the 2020 Chan finals in Cameroon from April 4-25.
Welcome to Zimbabwe Mr Logarusic and it is our hope that Zifa, which is prone to bungling, will avail all the ingredients you need on time to execute your job to the satisfaction of millions of our country’s football lovers.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter