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IF rumours doing rounds that Lincoln Mutasa will remain at the helm of the ZIFA Normalisation Committee are true, especially after his tenure expired on June 30, then the football gods are out to spite us.
To imagine that we might have to endure him for the next nine months is traumatising.
Maybe FIFA’s rumoured decision to retain him boiled down to the politics of ensuring continuity and avoiding attracting undue criticism for the prescribed remedial action by the world football governing body that has thus far proved to be worse than the disease.
This might possibly explain why the committee’s mandate has reportedly been whittled down to primarily ensure that a new ZIFA executive is elected.
The biggest lesson we have, however, learnt from their tenure is how not to manage football.
In the period that the committee has been in charge of local football, we have since dropped out of contention for the World Cup — and have been ignominiously losing to Lesotho and South Africa in the process — and been dumped out of COSAFA, a tournament that we have traditionally bossed.
The last time Bra Shakes checked, Kenya was renowned for scandalously talented long-distance runners, and not footballers.
And that the East African country could roundly defeat Zimbabwe in a football match is embarrassing.
In the same period, the Warriors have changed coaches twice, from Baltemar Brito and Norman Mapeza to Jairos Tapera, who is not likely to feature in future assignments. But ZIFA being ZIFA, anything is possible.
What, however, clearly emerged during our farcical World Cup and COSAFA campaigns was the fact that local football structures need to be restored.
We currently do not have an ecosystem that identifies and nurtures talent for our national teams.
Players should be able to traceably move up the ranks to the senior side.
Worryingly, some of the players that have been recently finding their way into the Warriors were late bloomers, who, though talented, were discovered in lower divisions by chance.
Tymon Machope, who was part of the squad for the World Cup qualifiers, easily comes to mind.
Although talented, a 31-year-old striker cannot be expected to be fully developed and conditioned for football at the highest level.
And the former farm worker had to be recruited from the unfashionable world of Division Two to play in the top-flight.
The same goes for Manica Diamonds’ Michael Tapera, who, at 25, cannot honestly be expected to make any meaningful difference in the national team, regardless of his obvious talent.
We should take a leaf from the performance of the young Spanish side at the ongoing UEFA European Championship.
On Friday, the youthful team, whose stars include 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams (21), as well as 21-year-old Pedri — dumped hosts Germany out of the tournament, underlining their irrepressible talent.
The team only has three players with more than 50 caps — vice captain Morata (77), right-back Jesus Navas (55) and Rodri (53).
They are strong contenders for lifting the cup.
Our teams used to have vibrant junior development programmes, which produced the likes of Norman Maroto (may his soul rest in peace), who rose at a very tender age to graduate in the Dynamos squad brimming with talent.
This all shows that there are no short-cuts to success.
We need to get the basics right.
The current situation where teams prioritise recruiting old players past their prime is untenable. But it shows how our football standards have declined.
If the ongoing process to nurse our football back to health does not prioritise putting junior football at the centre of all our efforts, then we are eternally doomed.
We need to invest in talent and success.
Until next time.
Peace!
Yours Sincerely,
Bra Shakes.
Online Reporter