Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIFA have entrusted Spanish coach Ramon Catala with leading the Warriors into their Dream 2030 project despite his limited experience as a senior head coach.
The UEFA Pro Licence holder was unveiled in Harare yesterday on a four-year mandate as ZIFA rolled out a new technical structure stretching from the Under-15 teams to the senior national sides.
Catala brings more than three decades of experience across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East and has worked at clubs including Celta Vigo, Espanyol, Real Zaragoza and Dynamo Kyiv.
Much of that work, however, came in fitness, assistant and technical roles under coaches such as Mauricio Pochettino, Ernesto Valverde, Miguel Angel Lotina and Tintin Marquez rather than as the man ultimately responsible for results.
He has also worked with Nicaragua and spent a year as technical director of Libya between 2021 and 2022.
ZIFA believes that experience, coupled with his Spanish football schooling, can help establish the playing identity they want across the national teams. Catala will not have long to show what that philosophy looks like.
His first assignment comes away to Sierra Leone on September 23 before Zimbabwe face the Democratic Republic of Congo in their next match. And the Spaniard has already made clear the type of Warriors side he wants to build.
“We are from Catalonia,” said Catala.
“Our team will be very offensive, a very aggressive team. We like to dominate games with the ball.
“We will try to play the ball in the opponents” half. We will try to be aggressive when we lose the ball and dominate when we have the ball because that’s our philosophy and we think that’s the best way to be competitive.
“We would like to be a very difficult team to play against.” The Spanish influence will extend beyond Catala. He will be joined by compatriots Vicente Girona Izquierdo and Marc Sanchez, while CAPS United coach Takesure Chiragwi has been retained from the previous Warriors technical team.
Sanchez will also lead the national Under-23 side, linking the senior team directly with the age group ZIFA regards as the final bridge into the Warriors.
ZIFA president Nqobile Magwizi said the appointments formed part of a wider attempt to establish one development pathway and a recognisable football identity from the junior national teams through to the Warriors.
“We are not trying to turn Zimbabwe into Spain. We want to combine Zimbabwean talent with world-class methodology and build a distinctly Zimbabwean football identity,” said Magwizi.
“A player moving from Under-17 to Under-20, or Under-20 to Under-23, should experience continuity rather than starting again every time.”
The coaches have been given four-year tenures running to 2030, with ZIFA insisting Dream 2030 is about building a system rather than preparing teams from one competition to the next.
“We’re looking at a minimum of four years,” said Magwizi.
“It’s a project we are running with and it’s not focusing on a competition. It’s not just focusing on the current Warriors team.
“It’s focusing on building a system. So, we are saying we’re looking at the first four years, and then we will be re-viewing as we go along.” Former Warriors captain Kaitano Tembo has been appointed Under-20 coach, assisted by Max Makanza, while Ta-adza Mashiri takes charge of the Under-17s alongside former Zimbabwe international George Mbwando. Back-lyfield Chivenge will lead the Under-15s, with Alexio Sigion as his assistant.
Catala says the long-term project will not lessen the immediate demand for results.
“We want to do a great job, as the president said. We want to win games as well as give stability and get results,” he said.
“First of all, we have to go step by step. We have to think about the first two matches, Sierra Leone and Congo, and start preparing well.
“We start by choosing the best players we can for the first match, and then we will see what we can achieve.
“Of course, we are ambitious. We want to qualify in every competition we play and, of course, we have the same dream as you.”
But Catala also wants Zimbabweans to recognise the Warriors by more than results.
“We want all the supporters to be proud of our team, of our way to play, how we represent the national team and the country,” he said.
ZIFA have given him four years to build that identity.
Sierra Leone will provide the first look at it next month.
