Who failed the nation this time around

Spirited in that they put all the negatives behind them and almost snatched a well deserved draw, depleted in that only 17 players were available for selection, an embarrassing episode.

Questions will then be asked as to who actually failed the nation this time around. In the 2012 campaign, Zifa took the blame after the Warriors fell by the wayside.

While it is true that the war is not entirely lost as the Swallows will also fly to Zimbabwe for the return leg in June, it is certainly a cause for concern to lose to such teams, ranked a distant 143 on the Fifa/Coca Cola World Rankings and 44 in Africa.

Some quarters will obviously blame coach Rahman Gumbo because at the end of the day he has the final say on what happens on the pitch. However those who know will tell you that football involves a lot of planning prior to the match and automatically, it means more than one person is involved in this whole issue.

It therefore means that if one of the people in the planning line messes up, it is so difficult for the final man, the coach to do a good job. It can happen yes but like we said before, its just difficult.

So in this case, who misfired? Gumbo, Zifa or the new team manager Nyika Chifamba, recently fired by Dynamos for incompetence.

For Gumbo, he did his part by naming his squad, which was made up of experience and talent, well on time and it means somebody in the next line then had to do his part and that is Chifamba.

As a manager, he had to make sure that he contacted all those players called, through their respective clubs.

But we had a situation where players were either contacted late or things were done unprocedurally like in the Noel Kaseke case.

“When my invite did not come within the 14 days required, I spoke to the team manager who said he was having problems with getting through to my club. He then sent one directly to me which I forwarded to the club.

“On Friday the club checked with the travel agent and there was no ticket and travel schedule for my trip,” Kaseke told Chronicle Sport last week.

He eventually failed to travel to Burundi.

As if that was not enough, Warriors hitman, Knowledge Musona had to endure the embarrassment of being told at the airport that a visa was required and only got to Burundi four hours before kick off.

Dickson Choto another player who with Noel Kaseke were expected to add steel to the defence, could not make it.

Under such circumstances what would Gumbo and his assistants, David Mandigora and Peter Ndlovu have done?

And then there is the issue of the ever bungling Zifa. Since the Ethics Committee has to finish its work by the end of this month, was it not rather too early to suspend 98 players yet everyone was aware that the Warriors will be playing a crucial away match on 29 February. The return leg is far away in June and by then this whole Asiagate issue would probably have been settled.

Chifamba had to ask for contact details of certain players from journalists. Zifa who appear happy to run national teams as ad hoc projects seem not to have a good data base of players abroad.

The manager who replaced Sharrif Mussa, would have had his work a lot easier had all contact details of players been made available. Musa Mguni who is one of a few players at a high-profile league in Russia and Kaseke of Cyprus ought to be in Zifa’s ‘A’ list of players that the nation can call up.

It appears the national association also did not have money for tickets. By the time they got sponsorship, it was too late for the coaches to consider other players.

Yes it is a noble idea yes for Zifa to act decisively on Asiagate, but it looks like some of the Zifa officials wanted to endear themselves well to Fifa at the expense of the nation and poor players.

For now investigations are going on, the players are innocent until proven guilty by the Justice Ebrahim Commission. They have been let to play for their clubs, why not the national team as well?

Mamelodi Sundowns striker Nyasha Mushekwi, who never participated in the shame tours, was banned from national team activities simply because he did not perform well in the Cape Verde match.

Now the nation faces the prospects of failing again, to be among the continent’s best in South Africa next year all because of personal egos.

However all hope is not lost as the Warriors can certainly turn the tables on Swallows when they come for the return leg, which will likely be at the ever intimidating Barbourfields Stadium in early June.