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Robson Sharuko-Senior Sports Editor
THE graveyard of football coaches, where they have been burying those who lost their jobs in the region, in the past two years, features a Belgian gaffer, who won just two of his 19 matches.
He was in charge of Malawi.
Those wins came in a friendly, against Togo, in a friendly international, and a victory over the Comoros, in a 2019 AFCON qualifier.
Unsurprisingly, the winning margin, in both games, for the Flames, was identical slender 1-0 wins.
Both victories came in the first seven matches.
And, from October 7, 2017, to his dismissal, on April 6, 2019, Ronny Van Geneugden did not lead the Flames to even a single victory, as they lost eight, and drew four, of their games.
His recruitment had been shrouded in controversy, given this was his first job, as a national team coach.
His record showed his only success came, when he guided Belgian club, Oud-Hervelee Leuven, into the top-flight league.
What those, who chose him, chose to ignore was that, by the time he was dismissed on January 21, 2014, the club were struggling, and sitting, second-from-the-bottom, of the table.
Something had to give in.
“The executive committee resolved to adopt the recommendation of the technical committee not to renew the contract of the national coach based on poor results of the Malawi national team,” the Football Association of Malawi, said in a statement.
After their experiment backfired, the Malawian football leaders decided to go to the basics.
They turned to their homegrown coaches, with Meke Mwase, a former national team player, being thrust into the hot seat, to replace the misfiring Belgian.
And, the modest Mwase has since repaid the confidence invested in him, by his bosses, after guiding the Flames to the 2021 AFCON finals.
Malawi will be returning to the Nations Cup finals, for the first time, since 2010 and for only the third time, in their history.
Van Geneugden, also known as RVG, must probably be wondering why he ended up in Malawi, rather than here in Zimbabwe, where the football leaders appear to have more patience.
After all, unlike Zdravko Logarusic, the Croat who has reduced the Warriors into one of the whipping boys of international football, RVG had won two of his first 14 matches, in charge of the Flames.
His team had lost four, and drawn eight, of those matches.
Somehow, despite the huge turnover of coaches, in the region, Loga finds himself still standing, despite his poor record, since taking over as Warriors coach.
So, what has happened elsewhere, in Southern Africa, within that period?
Mozambique
On April 16, this year, the Mozambique Football Federation announced they had replaced their Portuguese coach, Luis Goncalves, with his countryman, Horacio Goncalves, as the new coach of the Mambas.
The 58-year-old Horacio had been in charge of local club giants, Costa do Sol, helping them to win the League and Cup Double, in Mozambique.
The target for him is to take the Mambas to the 2022 CHAN finals and the 2023 AFCON final.
Zambia
On July 27, this year, the Football Association of Zambia announced the appointment of former national team player, Beston Chambeshi, as their new head coach.
He replaced Milutin “Micho’’ Sredojevic, the Serbian who arrived under a blaze of promise, last year, only for things to fall flat, including an average show at the COSAFA Cup.
“Following the mutual separation between the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) and Milutin, the executive committee met on July 24, 2021, to chart the way forward,” read part of the statement.
“Considering the forthcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers in September-November, and the lengthy recruitment process, it would not be possible to employ a substantive national coach.
“In view of the short time before the commencement of the World Cup qualifiers, FAZ has announced a reconstituted interim technical bench for the senior men’s national team to be headed by Beston (Chambeshi), who will be assisted by Numba Mumamba.”
Croatian coach, Aljosa Asanovic, was also brought in as a technical advisor.
Botswana
In June this year, the Botswana Football Association, and coach Adel Amrouche, agreed to go separate ways, ending the Algerian’s time, as head coach of the Zebras.
Letang “Rasta’’ Kgengwenyane was brought in as the Zebras caretaker coach.
The Zebras remain the only team, which Loga has managed to beat, during his time, as Warriors coach.
Namibia
On July 15, 2020, Bobby Samaria was appointed head coach of the Brave Warriors, after the Namibian football leaders decided against extending the contract of Ricardo Mannetti, in the wake of a poor 2019 AFCON campaign.
Samaria has already led the Brave Warriors to a 2022 World Cup win, after an impressive 1-0 victory over Togo, in Lome, to add to the point they picked, in their opening 1-1 draw against Congo-Brazzaville.
South Africa
The South African Football Association decided against renewing the contract of coach Molefi Ntseki, after Bafana Bafana’s failure to qualify for the 2021 AFCON finals, and replaced him with Hugo Broos.
The Belgian gaffer has taken them to the top of their 2022 World Cup qualifying group.
Democratic Republic of Congo
In May, this year, Argentine coach, Hector Cuper, was named the new coach of the Congolese Leopards, after replacing Christian N’sengi Biembi, who had been in charge, since August 8, 2019.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter