Chronicle Editor
Langton Nyakwenda, Harare Bureau
A 51-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain coach who has worked closely with respected gaffers like Luciano Spalleti and Philippe Troussier is among hundreds of coaches who are eyeing the Warriors coaching job.
A modest gaffer who holds the Uefa Pro Diploma, Christophe Gamel is in the race to become the next Warriors coach after he responded to an advert flighted by Zifa’s Normalisation Committee last week.
The Normalisation Committee is hunting for a substantive coach to lead Zimbabwe in the back-to-back World Cup qualifiers scheduled for South Africa next month.
Zimbabwe will host Lesotho at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on June 7, before facing South Africa at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on June 11.
“I can confirm that a French coach called Gamel is among the applicants for the Warriors coaching post,” a source told Zimpapers Sport.
Gamel was an assistant manager at PSG’s women’s team between 2012 and 2016.
He then coached Fiji’s national team from 2017 to 2019 and reached the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualification with the lowly South Pacific nation.
Gamel’s latest gig was with Vietnam where he worked as assistant to Troussier, a vastly experienced gaffer who has managed various African national teams including Nigeria, Burkina Faso and South Africa.
He has also coached lower-league clubs in France, Belgium, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
The Frenchman’s CV also reveals some attachment stints with Serie A clubs like Juventus, AC Milan, AS Roma, Fiorentina and Sassuolo.
At AS Roma, he learnt from respected gaffer Spalleti who won the Serie A championship with Napoli in May 2023 before he was appointed Italy national team manager in August.
Former African Cup of Nations winner Winfred Schaffer has also applied for the Warriors coaching post which has attracted interest from across the globe.
The 74-year-old German won the 2002 Afcon Cup with Cameroon.
The Zifa Normalisation Committee is now drawing up a shortlist of candidates before announcing the new Warriors coach in the next few days.
A technical committee headed by Zifa technical director, Jethro Hunidzarira, is in charge of the process. The new coach will however, have no time to choose his preferred players, given the proximity of the two World Cup qualifiers. He will instead work with a squad selected by this technical committee.
Interestingly, highly rated Zimbabwean coaches Norman Mapeza, Kaitano Tembo and Kalisto Pasuwa did not apply for the Warriors job.
Online Reporter