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Noel Munzabwa
WHEN Zifa parted ways with Calisto Pasuwa in March, a lot of names were thrown around as possible replacements including one Dutchman called Pieter De Jongh.
Right under the nose of Harare, the National Football Association of Swaziland snatched away the former Rwanda national team coach amid mixed reactions.
Four months in the job, De Jongh has presided over two friendly matches, one 2019 Afcon qualifier, two Cosafa matches and last weekenda��s 2018 Chan qualifier, and the section that had reservations could be vindicated.
And obviously the Zimbabwe soccer fans could gain interest in this a�?would have beena�? Warriors coach with a a�?we survived hima�? rhythm judging by the results De Jongh has posted with Sihlangu a�� one win, one draw and four defeats.
His only win was a 1-0 win international friendly match against Lesotho which the same opponents quickly reversed two days with a similar score revenge at Mavuso Sports Centre but the Dutch mentor was to flatter only to deceive with a goalless Afcon qualifier draw away to Niger.
Disaster was to strike with three successive defeats a�� 1-2 to the Warriors, 0-1 to Namibia, both at the Cosafa Castle Cup in Rustenburg but last Sunday’s 0-4 home thumping at the hands of Zambia at Somhlolo National Stadium drew out all the remaining hope.
Having turned Somhlolo National Stadium into a fortress since the 0-3 international friendly defeat to South Africa on the 15th of November 2013, Sihlangu, under Harries Madze Bulunga, avoided defeats against Angola, Guinea, Malawi, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
But last Sunday came unstuck against Chipolopolo sparking near riots in demonstrations against De Jongh and a mere glance at his CV vindicates Kenyan and Rwandese sports journalists who labelled him more of a a�?Football Tourist than a coacha�?.
De Jongh was born in 1970, played for top clubs in Netherlands, and in 1990 he was appointed a Youth Coach which means he was 20, just when did he play professional football as the CV claims?
The Dutch coach only had a six months stint with the Rwandan Football Association where he was the technical director. It is further claimed Jong submitted a fake Uefa diploma in 2014 which was questioned by the Hungary Football Association earlier that year while he was still in charge of AFC Leopard in Kenya.
His CV also states that he has had at least 20 coaching appointments since 1990 and one is bound to ask, is this the so called experience our football authorities had been attracted to and we surely must count ourselves lucky not to have settled for this man.
The Dutch man becomes the sixth European mentor to lead the Swazi national team after the likes of the late Ted Dimitru, Van Wan Winkel, Raoul Savroy and Valere Billen among others.
Is this what we really wanted for our Warriors? .
Online Reporter