adminThe Warriors fell 2-0 to Chipolopolo in the Cosafa final at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium with Zambian forwards Alex Ngo’nga and substitute Kabaso Chongo scoring early into the match and late on from almost identical set pieces.
Zambia equalled the Warriors proud record of four Cosafa titles.
Despite a determined second half show, the Warriors could not find a way back into the game as Pagels’ men failed to find a way past impressive Zambian goalkeeper Danny Munyau and were guilty of missing the target on the occasions that the Chipolopolo goalminder had been caught off guard.
The Warriors, who flew back home last night aboard an Air Zimbabwe flight, chartered for them by Zifa president Cuthbert Dube, will have little time to rest before they regroup for the trip Mauritius.
Zimbabwe will face Mauritius in the CHAN first round qualifier at the George V stadium in Antananarivo on Sunday with a strong possibility of an immediate Cosafa Cup repeat showdown with Zambia looming in the second and final qualifying round in September.
Chipolopolo have to clear the Botswana hurdle in the first round.
Pagels, now winding up his tour of duty to Zimbabwe where his main brief was to be the Zifa technical adviser, said although he was happy with the way his team played for much of the game against Zambia in the final, he would want to make changes and strengthen the team that will travel to Mauritius on Thursday.
“I said it before that in the Cosafa tournament we could not take the best because we were limited to a maximum of two players from each club, now I am going to demand that that we get three or even four.
“This is a good team and we just have to make it stronger in order to achieve what we want,’’ Pagels said.
The German coach has never made a secret of his admiration for such players like Dynamos defenders Partson Jaure and Augustine Mbara whom he could not call upon because he had already picked Devon Chafa and Ocean Mushure.
Pagels also said he was looking forward to closing his stint as Warriors coach with a win over Mauritius and is aware that that the CHAN tournament is on the Fifa calendar.
“We are going to take a short break of a day or two to give the players time to recover and we will regroup once Zifa have advised us of the travel plans to Mauritius.
“I will tell Zifa that I want all the best players now more than three from each club.
“I later watched the game against Zambia on television later in the night and I think if the condition of the players improves a bit and they play with the same spirit and passing game they did in the Cosafa final we will do better.
“The game could have changed if Tendai Ndoro had used his big chance to score (in the 28th minute) and we still created more chances and had better possession of the ball.
“Cosafa is gone now and we must draw some positives from our match against Zambia and the whole tournament and build on from there and one of those positives is that we have a team that has ability and skills to play football and we must be proud of them.
“I leave on 31 July so I can only take charge of the first leg in Mauritius and I hope the next coach can continue with the philosophy that we have built with this team,’’ Pagels said.
The Warriors might have improved on their passing and build ups from the back but they remain slow to move into attack and goals have been hard to come by as a result.
Against Zambia, the Warriors could not consistently offer much in attack and thus failed to at least force an equaliser in the 87 minutes of football they played after Zambia had scored after just three minutes.
The Warriors have been to the last two editions of the CHAN tournament in Cote d’Ivoire in 2009 and Sudan two years later and now they will be seeking a third successive appearance.
The winner of the second and final round of the qualifiers will advance to the 2014 CHAN tournament in South Africa.
Pagels also urged the Premiership clubs to help improve the condition of the players warning that the Warriors would lag behind if the approach was not changed and a “really good youth policy is not put in place’’.
“The PSL clubs must also improve their training and make sure the players are in good physical condition.
“Most of the teams in the PSL only train once a day because they do not have money for lunch but when you need to compete in international football you need to be in good physical condition like what we saw with teams South Africa, Zambia and Namibia at this tournament,’’ Pagels said.
Online Reporter