admin
Lovemore Dube Sports Editor
WARRIORS coach is secure in his job for now despite the senior national soccer team’s heavy 2-4 loss to the Pharoahs of Egypt on Sunday which has prompted Zifa to make a few recommendations. In the wake of Sunday’s debacle at the National Sports Stadium, members of the Zifa high performance technical committee met in Harare on Monday and resolved that while they would not interfere with the national team coaches’ selection process, they would give a technical analysis of matches.
Benedict Moyo, who heads the technical committee, said they had noted that the style of play was not giving the country any results at the moment despite so much promise and this showed a lot of hope but the team would take long to mature and deliver results.
Hungary, who introduced the tika taka football, took 20 years to get results just like Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona.
“The style will not give us results in the near future, we need to come up with a medium term plan that fuses the experienced and young players. Our style of play as Zimbabwe must also be incorporated so that some outstanding players on the domestic scene can be accommodated.
“Hungary started tika taka football and it took them 20 years to perfect. Even Barcelona got it right in 1974 having introduced it in 1954. Development is with the Under-23 team and with the national team a medium term goal is what we should look for,” said Moyo.
Another observation was that some players were played out of position in the national team.
Moyo said what was encouraging was that after the Zifa high performance committee met the technical staff of the Warriors, they agreed to adjust.
The Warriors coach said he needed 6-10 games to get his act right.
“Yes the coach said he wants 6-10 games but when we engaged him we said we want to do well in the Cosafa Cup and the Chan tournament. He wants more matches to see his boys adjust to his philosophy,” said Moyo.
The high performance committee chairman said Pagels was safe in his job.
“I would like to reiterate that Pagels is safe in his job, we are impressed with the direction he wants us to go,” said Moyo.
The result ensured the match stayed the dead rubber that it was as Zimbabwe went into the game already out of the reckoning for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Moyo said his committee would not interfere with the coaches’ selection but their role was to review matches and help with the analysis for future assignments of the team.
“We are not involved in the selection process. That is the prerogative of the coaches and it will stay like that. They know what they want so they call players that they are confident will deliver,” said Moyo when asked whether they had an input into the Warriors’ selection.
He said choosing players for coaches would not be a good idea.
“If we were to do that then we would have given our coaches an excuse for poor results, they would say we interfered,” said Moyo.
Zifa and the Warriors technical department are coming under increasing criticism for the seeming lack of direction in the senior national team. Soon after the 0-2 defeat to Angola in a final qualifier of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals, Zifa dissolved the senior national team. Surprisingly veterans who made sure the scoreline remained respectful in Luanda were dropped as the nation was told the Warriors would prepare for the future with younger players.
The barrage of criticism comes in the wake of the coaches selecting players who are not even playing for their respective clubs abroad.
Zimbabweans were left feeling short changed by the national coaches when Willard Katsande, probably the most outstanding Zimbabwean soccer player in South Africa who was the heart of Kaizer Chiefs’ successful league and cup campaign, was surprisingly overlooked for the Warriors squad.
He won the praises of his club coach Stuart Baxter and the South African media for his selfless displays.
Surprisingly his bench warming countrymen at Chiefs Matthew Rusike and Licoln Zvasiya were called up and even fielded in the starting line up.
The Warriors have a number of players who are not regulars at their clubs in Europe and South Africa including captain Denver Mukamba who has barely played an hour at Bidvest Wits in five months.
Present form does not seem to be a factor in considering who should play for the national team as outstanding players like the country’s top goalscorer Tendai Ndoro, Dominic Chungwa, Bruce Kangwa, Ronald Pfumbidzai and Dumisani Ndlovu continue to be overlooked even when age is on their side.
The high performance technical team met yesterday to share notes on what they observed during the match.
“It is usual that we meet soon after the match as the technical team to share notes on our observations. After that we meet the Warriors coaches and discuss with a view of improving our performance for the future. We do not dictate anything but we make recommendations where possible and also get to know the coaches’ own impressions,” said Moyo.
The high performance team consists of Moyo, Cosmas Zulu, Gibson Homela, Charles Sibanda and Misheck Chidzambwa — all respected former players who have also coached clubs and national teams.
The other member of this committee is Bheki Nyoni of the Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association.
Zimbabwe will not break camp as they face Guinea away this weekend in a dead rubber World Cup qualifier.
Pagels has ruled out inviting other players to his disappointing lot which played well in Egypt losing 1-2 in March.
Bongani Ndlovu