dyton mupawaenda
Grace Chingoma-Senior Sports Reporter
PREMIERSHIP giants Highlanders and Dynamos yesterday congratulated their coaches for landing interim roles with the senior national soccer team.
The Zifa Normalisation Committee yesterday appointed Highlanders gaffer Baltemar Brito as the head coach of the Warriors until June 2024.
He will be deputised by Bongani Mafu and Dynamos coach Genesis Mangombe.
Highlanders and Dynamos then took to the social media to congratulate their respective coaches for the appointments.
The Warriors technical team’s immediate ask would be to assemble a team that will play at the invitational match to mark Botswana’s Independence Day next Saturday.
The Warriors will then shift attention to the World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria next month.
The appointment of the Mighty Warriors coach has been deferred to today after one of the candidates from the three shortlisted lost a parent.
The Normalisation Committee will interview the coach this morning and announce the successful candidate in the afternoon.
Normalisation Committee member Rosemary Mugadza said they are eager to appoint the women’s football coach so that the gaffer can hit the ground running with the COSAFA Women’s Championships preparations.
The Mighty Warriors coach is expected to quickly select the players that will go into camp early next week ahead of the COSAFA Women’s Championship which will run from October 4 to 15 in South Africa.
“The organisers of the COSAFA are also waiting for the technical team names. So we will definitely announce the coach tomorrow (today). One of the coaches lost a parent, so the burial was today (Thursday), so we had to be humane and wait to interview the coach tomorrow morning.
“The other two candidates we have already interviewed them and after the last interview we will announce the coach,” said Mugadza.
In a statement, the ZIFA Normalisation Committee said they settled for the Portuguese after extensive recruitment.
“The Normalisation Committee settled for the trio after an extensive recruitment and consultative process based on regional, continental and global confederations’ guidelines.
The NC set the coaches’ term of engagement to end at the same time as its mandate so that the next board will have the opportunity to recruit its own coaches.
“ZIFA would like to thank Highlanders FC and Dynamos for allowing their coaches to serve the nation. The coaches will remain with their clubs and will be reporting for national assignments as and when required to do so.
The association pleads for the nation’s patience as it continues with the recruitment of remaining national teams’ coaches,” read the statement.
Online Reporter