EIGHT MONTHS FOR MARIO TO SORT OUT HIS AFCON MESS

Robson Sharuko-Metros Editor

MARIAN “MARIO’’ MARINICA was thrown straight into the deep end and made a mess of it, with some selections from hell.

But, the Warriors coach now has the perfect platform to redeem himself.

The Romanian coach’s flawed science to consign Tawanda Maswanhise to the bench in two AFCON finals games will go down as one of the worst suicidal decisions by a Warriors gaffer in history. Handed a gem, around whom he could build his attack, Mario decided to believe in some strange Romanian science and, for two games, sidelined the best player in his attacking arsenal.

By the time he came to his senses, forced by public pressure and a media backlash, Mario threw Tawanda into battle against Bafana Bafana and received a brutal reminder of what he was missing.

But, given that Mario had been appointed to lead the Warriors just a month earlier, one can give him the benefit of doubt that he didn’t really know the quality of his players.

However, the way the international football calendar is set this year means Mario has the perfect platform to carefully plan for the next Warriors’ competitive assignments.

And, more importantly, it means that Mario has all the time he needs to come up with a masterplan to help him pick the best players who will represent their country on merit.

The Warriors’ next competitive assignment is a 2027 AFCON qualifier which will be played in the international window which opens on September 21 and closes on October 6.

The March international window will only be used for the 2027 AFCON preliminary qualifiers, and the Warriors will not be part of these basement battles, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup final play-off phase.

The only matches the Warriors can play during this window are friendly games.

The June/July window will be used specifically for the World Cup. This arrangement means Mario has EIGHT months, from the time he was on the bench in his last competitive match to the time he will return on a similar assignment, to come up with his masterplan.

This will provide him with ample time to take a very good look at his players, their technical flaws or otherwise, their strengths and how best he can use them.

No other expatriate Warriors coach, in the history of the team, has ever been given such a luxury to use eight months to study his players, and go around Europe looking for fresh talent, in a grand mission to come up with a very competitive side.

Of course, Mario is different.

After all, he is the first expatriate coach to lead the Warriors at the AFCON finals and the first man to do so without having coached the team in a qualifier for the tournament.

Mario has been going around bases where Zimbabwean footballers are found in Europe and that his mission started with a visit to Maswanhise, the gem he rejected at AFCON, was ironic.

What he is doing is commendable and that he even found time to have a chat with Liverpool defender Isaac Mabaya, who is on loan at Wigan Athletic, is a step in the right direction.

Mabaya, who was born in Preston, England, has been at Liverpool since he was six and is eligible to play for the Warriors.

Of course, the hawks who specialise in negativity chose to try and make a mockery of Mario’s mission with reports that the coach was snubbed by another Liverpool player Trey Nyoni.

The Romanian coach should not waste his time on such merchants of negativity and, instead, continue with his mission around Europe and, even if he convinces one or two new players to come and join the band, it will be a good start.

Mario also needs a frank discussion with Marshall Munetsi so that they try to find each other again and bury the ghost which strained their relationship in the countdown to the AFCON finals.

What happened cannot be changed.

But they both know that they both have the power to influence the future and anyone who suggests that Munetsi doesn’t have a place in the Warriors going forward is probably taking a gamble with insanity.

Maswanhise showed Mario that a coach is also human and sometimes, the gaffer also makes mistakes.

He also showed that while football is a team sport, some of its most defining moments have been crafted by flashes of genius by its stars.

What Mario needs are his best players.

These are the people who will define his Warriors legacy and will ensure that he is remembered as a success or a failure.

His legacy will not be shaped by letters of apology but by results on the pitch.

Mario was thrown straight into a storm.

Now that the storm has passed he has the perfect platform to come up with a masterplan to ensure that this exciting generation of Warriors finally punch according to their weight.

And more importantly, he has all the time he needs.