MARIO ITCHES FOR A COMPETITIVE PSL

Tadious Manyepo  in JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

ZIMBABWE coach Marian “Mario” Marinica knows that small margins determined the Warriors’ fate at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

For the sixth time in as many AFCON appearances, Zimbabwe, once again exited the continental showpiece at the group phase after losing twice to Egypt and South Africa, while drawing with Angola in Group B.

The most painful part is that the Warriors could have advanced to the Round of 16 with only two points had they managed to hold on to a 2-2 draw against Bafana Bafana in their final pool match in Marrakech on Monday.

But they conceded a late penalty when captain Marvelous Nakamba, in a desperate attempt to save what he thought was a goal-bound effort, handled the ball.

After a VAR check, Bafana Bafana were awarded a spot kick whose winger Oswin Appollis clipped home to effectively seal Zimbabwe’s fate.

But the competition marked the first time since 2004 when the Warriors played their maiden AFCON appearance in Tunisia that Zimbabwe managed to score in every match.

Actually, the Warriors have managed to hit the target for five consecutive games for the first time in over a decade.

But it was their defensive frailties which were their biggest undoing in their latest Nations Cup sojourn in North Africa.

And Marinica, who is only 40 days into the job has expressed concerns about his defence.

But the 60-year-old Romanian is more concerned about the state of the domestic Premiership.

He had become the latest man to express genuine worry about the decline in the competitiveness of the local league which he says should be able to produce players who can give a good account of themselves at the highest level.

He said this in reference to the South African team, which is dominated by locally-based players yet throwing good enough punches on the continental stage.

Bafana Bafana, who draw the bulk of their players from Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, also topped the 2026 World Cup qualification group in which Zimbabwe finished bottom.

Marinica has, however, liked what he has seen of the Warriors in his month-long romance with the squad.

“Well, I think that the team (the Warriors) is on the rise.

“I said it before that, unfortunately, they had 15 matches without a win and at the same time, now we haven’t won, so we haven’t got that winning streak,’’ Marinica said.

“We won a match against Qatar in a friendly which was fantastic.

“And I said that we’ll completely change our attitude, we’ll look to score goals and we are scoring goals in every match, we are also creating lots of chances.

“So, the players’ philosophy, the players’ state of mind has been changed. We are looking now to be a completely different team.

“I think, on the other hand, there needs to be a lot of thinking and there needs to be a lot of groundwork to be done from grassroots, from also the Premier Soccer League. We need players to be a little bit ready for this kind of level.

“If you were to look at Bafana Bafana, they have players coming from the local leagues, which actually they are, regularly playing very high in the CAF Champions League and they are a very, very strong team.

“Can we also get this type of players in the local leagues?” Marinica said this can be attained if the local league can become stable and be able to import rather than consistently exporting its own talent.

“At the same time, instead of being an exporting country of talent, can we be an importing country? “This way, maybe we can compete for these trophies with clubs so we can have better prepared players for the national team and we could start rebuilding,” added Marinica.

“And, you know, March is just around the corner (when the 2027 AFCON qualifiers kick-start).”

The former Malawi and Liberia coach now wants preparations for the 2027 AFCON qualifiers to begin in earnest and he expressed happiness with the support he has so far been accorded by ZIFA.

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will co-host the next edition of the Nations Cup, the last time that the competition will be played every two years as it now switches to a quadrennial tournament.

“We’ll look to get as many results as possible in March. So, it’s a short turnaround.

“And I think ZIFA knows exactly what they are doing and I think we are on a very, very good pathway.” The Warriors had so much backing in Morocco, including from the locals, due to their evident structure on and off the field of play.

They were immaculately dressed for off-field events by ZIFA’s formal wear partners, 4 May International, while their local brand, Warrior Pride, won so much admiration from neutrals with diasporans in particular jostling to buy the replica jerseys. While in 2019, Zimbabwe needed a win in their last group game against the Democratic Republic of Congo for them to progress, this time around, even a draw could have carried them over the line.

That means this was the closest ever that the Warriors have come to qualifying for the second round despite having a new coach.