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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
ENGLAND-BASED Zimbabwean coach Philip Zulu is receiving rave reviews from the Sychelles Football Federation after putting his hand in that country’s first major football success story.
Seychelles recently lifted the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa Trophy at the Racecourse International Stadium after beating hosts Sri Lanka in a penalty shoot-out.
They had rallied from 1-3 to force a share of the spoils before the lottery.
And Zulu has been receiving plaudits from that country for nurturing some of the players who took part in that four-team tournament.
Zulu, who is based in Leeds, England, where he runs a successful Futsal project, is the official football consultant for Sychelles and he has been making tremendous strides.
“I started working with the Seychelles national teams (Under-15 to 23) in 2019 and managed to scout probably their best players,” said Zulu.
“I am the one who facilitated the secondment of 18-year-old twins Assad and Affan Abou to Germany and they impressed during a two-week trial at Norderstedt Eintracht FC Under-19 when they were still 16. They are currently attached to a second division club called Trofense FC.
“Their dad was the assistant national team coach for Madagascar Under-20 in 2015 and I met him in Gaborone, Botswana, when I was invited by their former national coach David Bright.
“I was then assigned to work with the Under-15 and 23 national teams in March 2020 just before the virus outbreak when they had planned to participate in the Indian Ocean Territorial Islands Tournament that include Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoros, Reunion and Maldives. When the global situation improved for sport to be resumed, Seychelles national senior football team were invited in Sri Lanka together with Bangladesh and Maldives to take part in a four-nation Prime Minister’s Invitational International Football Tournament which they won after a penalty shoot-out against the hosts nation.
“This is Seychelles’ first major success at international football and it is a huge achievement for them and a good reason to celebrate.
“I was humbled by many phone calls and WhatsApp messages from some of the players and coaching staff members who quickly reminded me that I helped them a lot in the period we worked together. The excitement is encouraging to say the least, everyone has slowly realised that hard work pays off and good management systems play a huge part in the long-term building and development of stable national teams from the juniors right up to the senior team.
“They actually invited more than six players from their Under-23 team to play alongside some of the foreign based players who play in German, France, Switzerland, England, Sweden and Denmark,” Zulu said.
Zulu has also been spearheading and facilitating top level coaching courses for Africans, especially in Germany.
Online Reporter