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Noel Munzabwa .
FORMER Warriors coach Calisto Pasuwa’s prowess over Eswatini’s national flagship squad may have enhanced his chances for the recently advertised vacant Sihlangu job but his $10 000 (150 000 rand) monthly salary bill might have just dashed it all.
Pasuwa, who has an impressive and unbeaten five-match combined performance card with both the Warriors and Young Warriors over Sihlangu during the 2017 Gabon Total Africa Cup of Nations Group L and Cosafa and Sihlangwana (Under 23) in the Olympic Qualifiers during his tenure, applied for the job last month.
And with the 2019 Total Afcon qualifiers now in full swing with the back to back ties against Egypt and a recent 0-3 defeat to Tunisia, hope had risen that the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) would appoint the new coach soon but alas it may take a little bit longer.
Fissures around the highly kept secret that the Zimbabwe mentor had been shortlisted for the job together with former Orlando Pirates coach Kosta Papic and former New Zealand mentor Ricki Herbert started to emerge into the public domain.
Barring a late change of heart, the four-time Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title-winning coach with Dynamos’s race to succeed to replace Hendrik Pieter de Jongh could be literally over as the Eswatini Football Association had reportedly tabled a 100 000 rand monthly salary.
According to a local daily, Times of Swaziland, Pasuwa’s manager, Gibson Mahachi confirmed the snag in the negotiations which literally confirmed the interest in the coach.
“The offer was not attractive. Clubs in Zimbabwe are offering way better,” Mahachi was quoted by the daily on Tuesday.
Perhaps the $7 000 monthly salary funded by businessman, Wicknell Chivayo and his qualification for the 2017 Total Africa Cup of Nations finals in Gabon may have raised stakes thus probably a $10 000 monthly salary demand.
Despite shunning the Young Warriors that edged Sihlangu 2-0 earning themselves the “Baby Faces” name in 2013, Pasuwa took charge of the Young Warriors goalless draw at Rufaro in Harare and a 2-2 draw at Somhlolo National Stadium in 2015.
He was back in Eswatini with the senior Warriors as they played out a 1-1 draw on Good Friday in 2016 before a 4-0 triumph at the National Sports Stadium on Easter Monday. It was at the same year’s Cosafa edition in Namibia that Pasuwa led the Warriors to a 2-2 draw.
Perhaps such a record may have simply got EFA drooling as well upon stumbling on Pasuwa’s application and ultimately Curriculum Vitae in their email inbox and without a blink shortlisted the former Dynamos midfielder.
@NoelMunzabwa
Online Reporter