Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
MARIAN “MARIO” MARINICA is still keen to turn the Warriors into a force on the continent.
The Zimbabwe coach is hoping to build on the positives picked from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco as he leads his Warriors into their next chapter.
Marinica was virtually thrown into the deep end when he was appointed to take charge of the Warriors on the eve of the Nations Cup staged in December-January.
Since that AFCON duty, the Warriors had retreated to their various club bases with Marinica, first taking a break before embarking on a tour of Europe to meet with current and prospective national team players.
The Warriors will now regroup for business next month.
This comes as ZIFA sought to make full use of the next FIFA window, which falls in March by entering into a pact with hosts Botswana, Malawi and Zambia for a Four-nation tournament scheduled for March 23-31 at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown.
The Four-Nations tourney will afford Marinica the opportunity to take a full stock of what his Warriors picked in a delicate campaign in Morocco where they narrowly missed out on a maiden spot in the Round-of-16. Zimbabwe lost twice to Egypt (2-1) and South Africa (3-2) while drawing once against Angola (1-1) to once again crash out of the tournament at the group stage.
But they were able to score in every game for the first time since 2004 and were only a moment away from securing a draw against old rivals Bafana Bafana that could have seen them advancing to the next round as one of the tournament’s best third-place finishers.
And Marinica is now expecting his charges to show some improvement when they step into the clashes against the Zebras, the Flames and Chipolopolo. The Romanian gaffer is still in Europe where he has been continuing with his mission to meet his Warriors and those with potential to represent this country.
He is expected back home around February 22, a month before the tournament in Francistown gets underway.
Marinica, speaking from Europe, hinted to Zimpapers Sports Hub yesterday that he would be including some new players he has seen during his current tour.
But the former Malawi and Liberia coach ruled out making wholesale changes to the squad he assembled for the Nations Cup.
“I hope so (to include new players he has seen in Europe),’’ Marinica said of the potential players he has met with.
“We are monitoring a number of players.
“We hope that they will be fit and keep playing regularly by that time to allow us to select them and them to come into form to ensure that they will perform at the expected level.” He added: “Although we didn’t get the results we wanted at the AFCON in Morocco, we still showed gritty, resilience and determination. We managed to score in every game at the AFCON.
“That never happened before since 2004, I think.
“We were extremely hard to beat. If it wasn’t for some unfortunate industrial defensive errors, one less goal conceded against South Africa would have got us through. That was how close the margin was,” he said.
While Marinica wants to build on those positives, he reckons the Warriors should put the AFCON behind them and focus on the job at hand.
“Now we need to put this behind us; it is water under the bridge.
“We should build on the massive positives like strong team cohesion, great potential and young players.” Marinica, with the full backing of the ZIFA board is working on building a strong Warriors squad that can qualify for the 2027 AFCON finals to be hosted by Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
He is also looking to put together a team that can be able to make it to the 2030 World Cup and make an impact in the proposed CAF Nations League.
“That is the aim right now. We have both short- and long-term goals.
“The immediate vision is to make it to the 2027 AFCON finals. “We have to play well and be in a position to qualify. Then we have the 2030 World Cup as well. That’s a mission possible.
“It’s all about how we put things together and able to compete.
“We are definitely going to also sharpen up at the Four Nations Cup in Botswana.
“I think we have now seen what it is all about. The players have adapted well to the playing style, and I hope we will improve as we go.
“We should look to build on the Warriors’ 2030 World Cup pathway with an intermediate aim to qualify for the 2027 AFCON, that’s how it should work.” Marinica also praised ZIFA for working on making sure the international calendar is fully utilised.
