‘I didn’t want Cosafa job’

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
HISTORY-making Cosafa Castle Cup winning mentor Sunday Chidzambwa said he was initially reluctant to take up the head coach post as a member of the Zifa High Performance Committee, but relented after being convinced by Zifa.

Chidzambwa made the claims in the post tournament interview in South Africa after guiding the Warriors to a historic fifth Cosafa Castle Cup triumph following an emphatic 3-1 win over trans-Zambezi rivals Zambia at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace on Sunday.

The revered coach is the vice-chairperson of the Zifa High Performance Committee headed by Zifa vice-president Omega Sibanda. The committee is supposed to, among other things, recommend national team coaches’ appointments and also review the technical strengths and weaknesses of the various representative national sides.

Other members of the committee include Chicken Inn coach Rahman Gumbo, national Under-17 head coach Moses Chunga, Triangle goalkeepers’ coach Innocent Chogugudza and former Mighty Warriors’ coach Rosemary Mugadza, who is now the Under-20 national women’s team coach.

“I didn’t want this job, for a start and they (Zifa) had to force me to take it, but I didn’t want it,” said Chidzambwa when asked what his recommendations would be to the association since he was part of the technical committee. Chidzambwa was assisted by Dynamos’ mentor Lloyd Mutasa and former Highlanders’ coach Bongani Mafu, with Wellington Mpandare as team manager.

The Warriors put up a disciplined and tactical, top drawer performance at the regional showpiece to go all the way to the winners’ podium despite a gruelling 540 minutes of football inside two weeks.

The ZPC Kariba coach and his entire technical team have since been rewarded for their technical prowess in the Cosafa Castle Cup by being tasked with leading Zimbabwe in the African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifiers that get underway this weekend with the Warriors taking on Namibia in an away fixture.

@skhumoyo2000