Online Reporter
THIS week, after the Warriors’ back-to-back defeats in their World Cup qualifiers, we ran a poll in which we asked our readers whether ZIFA should keep or fire coach Michael Nees.
Our Warriors lost to Benin and Rwanda by the same 0-1 scoreline and remain bottom of the table with two matches left to play in which they will take on Bafana Bafana and Lesotho.
Predictably, it was a no contest with the majority of the respondents saying the German coach should be FIRED!
We understand their anger because the results have been poor and Nees has won just two of the 12 matches, including friendly internationals, in which he was in charge.
Those two wins came against the same opponents, Namibia, in back-to-back qualifiers.
It means that Nees has not won a game against the other nations which the Warriors have faced since he took charge.
These nations include Benin, Rwanda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Kenya.
Initially, we had expectations that we had hired a coach we had been looking for.
After all, he is from Germany and we had a romantic attachment with German coaches since Reinhard Fabisch almost took his Dream Team to the ’94 World Cup finals in the United States.
The World Cup is back in the United States next year but we won’t be there.
We have always said we should never judge our coaches by what they do in the Nations Cup qualifiers because this is an area where we have enjoyed some success in the past.
The test for our coaches now should be based on what they do at the AFCON finals and if a coach takes us beyond the group stages then that can be classified as success.
Qualifying for the AFCON finals isn’t an achievement anymore because 24 teams, which is about half the number of the CAF membership, take part at the event.
It’s now become almost like an invitational tournament for every Jack and Jill.
For goodness sake Zdravko Logarusic won one match, against Botswana, and we still qualified for the AFCON finals.
Nees says that we should be realistic and take into account the fact that we have always struggled when it comes to AFCON qualifiers.
But, what he forgets is that generations of players who represent us at the national team change and the boys who are now part of the Warriors should not be burdened by the failures of the past.
The mere fact that we hired him is that we knew our limitations and we wanted him to change that but it’s very clear that he has not delivered.
Yes, playing at home is an advantage but why are we below Lesotho, who themselves don’t have a home ground, in our group?
Why are Benin still in with a chance to qualify for the World Cup, when they also don’t have a home?
The only difference between them and us is that they have the right coach and we don’t.
The only common thing is that they are both Germans.
