Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo-Zimpapers Sports Hub
NORMAN MAPEZA’s coaching career has never really seen that flip side.
The trajectory has almost always been up although there have been some slight blips, here and there.
The former Warriors captain has sweet memories in the capital where he won back-to-back league titles as part of the backroom staff at Charles Mhlauri’s CAPS United in 2004 and 2005.
He also delivered the title as the man-in-charge of Monomotapa in 2008.
And for the past 12 years, the ex-Galatasaray midfielder has been working outside Harare after establishing himself at FC Platinum with a brief stint in South Africa where he coached Chippa United.
In his lengthy stay in Zvishavane, Mapeza delivered three Premiership titles for the platinum miners, turning them into a dominant beast in the domestic game.
He is now back in the capital after champions Scottland swooped on him as they prepare for their title defence and a debut bow in the CAF Champions League this year.
Mapeza is a veteran of both competitions and he has expressed excitement on the challenge, especially coming back home after close to a dozen years outside Harare.
He is one of the top coaches currently undergoing the CAF A Refresher Course organised by ZIFA which is underway at ZIFA Village in Mt Hampden.
“Look, I’ve been away from home for quite some time,” Mapeza said.
“It’s not really a huge difference that I’m back home but usually to be home, close to the family, is always good. And I feel excited, really excited.
“You know, I’ve been away for more than ten and a half years when I was in Zvishavane but I also had some wonderful memories. But it’s always good to be back home,” Mapeza said.
The former Zimbabwe coach has just returned from South Africa where his Scottland had a pre-season tour for more than three weeks.
During that tour, Mapeza had an opportunity to assess his players in a friendly game against Eswatini giants Nzingizini.
He is still trying to work out combinations and trying to get his players to adapt to his philosophy with the game helping him pick the areas where he wants to work on just a fortnight before they get the ball rolling in the league with a Castle Challenge Cup tie against Dynamos at Rufaro on March 1.
“Yeah we played that friendly against Nzingizini, and it wasn’t maybe much about how we played that friendly game.
“I think if you look at football, at this stage of the season, it’s much to do with the physical part, psychological part, and maybe a little bit of technical,’’ Mapeza said.
“But in terms of tactics, no, no, I didn’t do much in terms of tactics because it was just a friendly game within three weeks. But the guys looked okay.
“But I was more than happy. It wasn’t about the results. It was about how far we’ve gone in terms of our preparation.”
Mapeza is hoping that his players will quickly gel as looks to build yet another formidable team capable of dominating the local game for years, pretty much like the one he put together at FC Platinum.
Scottland are not short on those who know what Mapeza wants as they already have such players like Walter Musona, Kevin Moyo and Panashe Mutimbanyoka who have previously worked under his hand in Zvishavane.
Others like Knowledge Musona and Khama Billiat worked under the coach at the senior national team.
