adminAlthough Zifa insisted that they were not apportioning the blame of the defeat on Matongorere, the soccer mother body claimed “a procedural flaw’’ and argued that the giant coach had strayed from his portfolio by sitting on the Warriors bench.
Zifa vice-president Ndumiso Gumede and the association’s chief executive said the board was not amused by the coach’s presence on the bench at home and claimed that Matongorere had gone beyond his portfolio of being technical director for the association.
Early this year, Matongorere had also been controversially cited as having cast a vote, masquerading as Warriors coach, during the Fifa Ballon d’Or, won by Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
The former Young Warriors coach has maintained his innocence, denying ever casting a vote last year, and Zifa have also set up an inquiry but the results have not yet been made public.
Yesterday, Matongorere was not at the National Sports Stadium when the Warriors held their session in the morning following a directive from Mashingaidze but Pagels and his assistant — Peter Ndlovu — have both come out in support of the former Sporting Lions and CAPS United coach.
Ndlovu was even more scathing and charged that “those who were blaming Matongorere’s presence on the bench for the defeat to Egypt were not football people”
Warriors assistant coach Ndlovu was quoted on national television ZBCTV saying “it was criminal for anyone” to blame the technical director for the defeat instead of focusing on the real issues that led to the drubbing from the Pharaohs.
The former Coventry City winger said Matongorere was a member of the technical team by virtue of being the association’s technical director
“We share a good working relationship with Matongorere who is also our senior as the technical director and his presence at the bench is very much welcome to the technical team,” Ndlovu told the ZBCTV.
A number of The Herald readers believe that Matongorere was being used as a scapegoat for the defeat while Zifa were failing to address the recurring problems.
Matongorere yesterday said he could not comment after getting the flak from his superiors at Zifa.
“People chose not to seek my comment but rushed to publish the article on Tuesday. I think the best person to speak to is the spokesperson for Zifa,” said Matongorere.
Pagels said there was nothing “unusual about Matongorere’s presence on the bench.
“When Zifa appointed me as the national team coach, they asked me to identify people to work as my assistants.
“I did that and Nelson was one of my staff and Zifa did not have any problems with that.
“We went with Nelson to Zambia and he was in Malawi and I do not know why the issue is coming up now,” said Pagels.
It also emerged that team manager Shariff Mussa will not be travelling to Guinea when the Warriors delegation flies out to Conakry this afternoon via Johannesburg and Dakar, Senegal.
Pagels had reportedly wanted Matongorere to act as team manager but Zifa felt Under-20 manager Patrick Mutesva should stand in for Mussa.
But away from the Matongorere saga, Pagels remained upbeat that his charges will get a positive result in Conakry.
“The guys are really engaged for the next game. I am happy that (Knowledge) Musona has recovered and he is fit now.
“We will work again a little bit on the defence but we are prepared for this match,” said Pagels.
The Warriors are set to travel without Khama Billiat and Matthew Rusike, who were injured on Tuesday although Eric Chipeta and Masimba Mambare have been roped in.
The German coach said he was expecting a tricky tie against Guinea, who also still have a chance to progress to the final round of the qualifiers.
“I watched Guinea’s match on YouTube against Mozambique but one cannot rely much on that because there was nothing on how they played football, but only the goals.
“I think they have a really strong attacking side from what I saw on the Internet. I do not know if the images were not graphics but they played with three strikers and they have this guy Traore who plays for Stuttgart.
“He has got speed and I have seen him playing for Stuttgart on Saturdays and he is a dangerous player,” said Pagels.
Pagels said although he had been blamed for the Warriors’ heaviest defeat on home soil, he was happy that they had also managed to breach the Pharaohs’ defence twice.
“In football sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. This match against Egypt is in the past now and we will try to focus on the next game.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, we watched a DVD of the game against Egypt and analysed it. Most people are hammering us but you will be surprised from the video that Egypt got the points.
“It’s only the four mistakes that we made at the back. We dominated for 80 percent of the match but the four individual mistakes cost us. So we are on the right track if we work on the mistakes and make it perfect.
“We have to give more speed to our passing game,” Pagels said.
The German coach also reckoned that some of his players succumbed to the pressure of playing at home.
“The players were too cautious and afraid of making mistakes. I told them its not only being on the pitch but they have to concentrate despite what happens around the stadium and in the terraces,” he said.
Pagels said he was convinced that his project will bear fruits if more people support him and likened himself to compatriot —German coach Joachim Loew — who at one time faced criticism from the media but they have now warmed up to him.
“As a coach I know that 50 percent of the people will agree with me and the other half will not. But I believe we are on the right track,” he said.
Online Reporter