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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN football coach Philip Zulu believes there is need for various stakeholders to come together and map the way forward on the future of football in this country.This follows the Warriors’ surprise elimination by Tanzania in a 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday.
Zimbabwe lost the first leg 0-1 in Dar es Salaam and on Sunday they were held to a 2-2 draw at the National Sports Stadium losing 2-3 on aggregate.
Zulu said the failure to come up with proper junior development structures was the major downfall for the national team.
“Basically, if you look at the non-existence of junior football from Under-14, Under-16, Under-18, Under-19 and Under-23 says a lot in terms of our poor planning and our vision is not consistent with modern trends.
“Looking at Zifa, I think it should now have structures for juniors and have a full calendar of activities for the juniors. Look at our national team at the moment, it’s just sad, it’s a sorry sight. We can’t plan with one team, we need a full complement of not less than four teams then you know talent progression is coming from those age-groups.
“I had the opportunity to look at their (junior) programmes, it’s okay for social gatherings and just keeping kids together but for international assignments we need a robust approach.
“If we are serious about football we need to start developing from the Under-10s, Under-12s and Under-14s and try to have the corporate, sponsors and government rally behind those teams.
“Unfortunately, we may not be in the Africa Cup of Nations for 2015 but I think it gives us the opportunity to develop,” said Zulu.
Zulu said the national team’s performance on Sunday was just below what is expected for a team that is fighting for a ticket for such a big tournament as Afcon.
“Well, it was too average, it’s not what you would say will take us far in terms of Afcon. We can’t blame the players and we can’t blame the coach.
“The problem is most of the players didn’t have proper junior development, maybe they haven’t been together for such arrangements.
“We don’t have junior development programmes so we don’t expect any miracle. We have been exposed of what we have failed to do in the past 15 years,” said Zulu.
The Zimbabwean coach, who is heavily involved with junior football development, said there is need to engage experts from outside the football mother.
“The way forward is that Zifa, the national mother body, the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture and possibly all the stakeholders in the national game need to call for an indaba.
“Not everyone in Zifa is an expert. This is the time to open a debate because we have failed. We have experienced people out there who can come in and assist on this.
“Personally, I feel we should have a technical team that is outside this board, discuss their personal experiences, what they have done outside the country and I will be happy to participate.
“We need to start somewhere, put a programme in place and modules that are consistence with the modern trends. We need to just start afresh, we don’t need to blame anyone for that,” said Zulu.
Zimbabwe last participated at Afcon in 2004 and Sunday’s defeat was a disappointment for a nation that was hoping for a change from a team that specialises in breaking the hearts of the fans.
Online Reporter