Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
AFTER watching his Under-20 national side suffering a startling 0-2 loss to Mozambique in the Cosafa Championships in South Africa on Sunday, coach Tonderai Ndiraya condemned his players for lacking basic football techniques.
The defeat left the Young Warriors virtually out of the competition, as they have to beat Lesotho by at least eight goals and hope South Africa lose to Mozambique today for them to advance to the next stage.
The local football fraternity somehow finds it difficult to accept losing to countries they feel are minnows, forgetting that these countries are heavily investing in player development, whilst Zimbabwe’s junior structures are dormant.
There is no denying that it was always going to be a tall order to get the best out of players that have been in lockdown for the whole season and had not seen any action until they landed in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa last week.
However, what seemed to baffle Ndiraya is that most players attached to Premier Soccer League clubs lack basic football skills.
Canada-based youth coach Collin Nyabadza agreed with Ndiraya’s assessment that local youth teams can’t match their regional counterparts due to different approaches in grassroots development.
“In a way, I agree with coach Ndiraya. We have serious problems with our game at junior level. We are not teaching kids basic soccer skills properly. At youth level, our emphasis should be on basic techniques such as passing, ball control, shooting and dribbling, and not tactics,” said Nyabadza.
“Which explains why you are bound to find players in our PSL struggling to pass or control the ball. At youth level, winning should not be our top priority. Rather the priority should be on development. But because in Zimbabwe we prioritise winning over player development, we end up age cheating because most of our youth coaches want to win at all costs,” he said.
The former Matopo High School teacher coaches youth football in Canada and he said emphasis there is on techniques because if kids are well groomed in basic football techniques, they can play anywhere and at any level.
“Personally, when I coach kids, my emphasis is on passing, ball control, shooting, personality, attitude and leadership. If you give me three years to build a youth team, I can build a team that will be a strong force,” Nyabadza said.
Fortune ‘Fokoza’ Ncube, who had a stint with Sporting CP Academy in South Africa and is a director of Ntumbane Stars, said: “I’m not surprised by the coach’s comments. My question is, ‘are developmental coaches given the support they need’? If not, can we expect them to develop world class players when they are poorly remunerated and not qualified?
“We can’t expect the boys to possess proper basics when they use one ball at training. How will they learn to control the ball, pass the ball and shoot while all they ever do is just play 11 vs 11 because of lack of football equipment,” lamented Ncube.
Ajax Hotspurs director Sphambaniso Dube feels the national team selection criteria is also at fault.
“It also depends on the quality of scouting the coach and his technical staff did. There are a lot of talented players with basic football skills out there. Selection should be widespread so that we get the best players in the country, not these haphazard call ups that happen a few days before a tournament,” Dube said.
The Young Warriors have one point from two matches in the tournament, which also serves as a zonal qualifier for next year’s Caf Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations finals to be held in Mauritania.
Online Reporter