The ZIFA boss said the biggest blunder came from the association’s comical appointment of two head coaches – Madinda Ndlovu and Norman Mapeza, to lead the senior men’s national team. This admittedly affected the national team’s performance, as the two coaches did not agree on the final line-up.
“We erred in appointing two co-coaches. That will never happen again. The Warriors must qualify this time,” said Dube.
The Warriors are favourites as they face Angola in the return leg of their final qualifying round next weekend, having won the first match 3-1 at Rufaro Stadium on September 9. The two teams meet in Luanda on October 14, in a match from which the Warriors need anything short of a 2-goal defeat to qualify for South Africa 2013.
Zimbabwe, finalists in 2004 and 2006, missed out of the last three editions of the bi-annual tournament and are chasing their third ever qualification to the continent’s biggest soccer showpiece, where they still have to make it through to the knockout stages.
They bowed out in the group stages in the two tournaments they qualified for, under Sunday Chidzambga and Charles Mhlauri. Current mentor, Rahman Gumbo, who won the first nine points that powered Mhlauri’s team to their second appearance at the 2006 finals in Egypt, will be seeking to be the first coach to surpass the group stage.
Post published in: Football
ARE WARRIORS ‘GIFT STANDS’ COUNCIL OR CABINET APPROVED?
I am baffled who owns these stands which are being parceled out like confetti to the Zimbabwe soccer national team. Is it Chombo, Council, Government or other voodoo schemes sedzanaFidza or the other Brooke in Doimboshava extension????? This must be a glorified scandal where beleaguered politicians are aiming to garner political kilometer here and there since elections are around the corner. Does Chombo has the Council , or Cabinet approval to santa state land as such? The whole stands saga sounds just unilateral? Someone, somewhere must have taken some serious substance which took him on a bad trip to announce such a thing.
ZIFA should not abidicated its role of being overall in charge of the nation’s football preserve per se to these fly by night support groups and individuals who have poisoned agendas. Before Zifa allows in these so called Warriors support groups to spoil national effort it should take inventory of the previous work of other groups. I do not believe in history repeating itself but in lessons learnt in the process:
• Leo Mugabe started as a transporter of Zimbabwe football fans to various international venues outside the country. Of course he was making some profits. He later snooked into Zifa chairmanship. The warriors’ and the nation lost its dream. We lost Fabisch, world rankings and the National Football team has never been the same again.
• There was the Zimbabwe Warriors Trust who had guys like Kaseke, Mzembi, Rushwaya and other usual suspects. The national team was actually mortgaged on casino tables somewhere in Asia. We lost all the rankings, players commitment and a lot of revenue including the whole proceeds from the Brazil/Zimbabwe friendly game. An unknown schoolteacher Henrietta Rushwaya was snooked in to head Zifa executive helm. The plot sounds familiar. All the proceeds were never accounted for till today. Henrietta took into personal possession of all the assets and therefrom.
• There was another support group ‘Friends of the Warriors’ led by one basketballer Tendai Bhanzi Zhakata. The friends after an international match between Zimbabwe and Mozambique drank the whole Maputo dry on Zifa’s unapproved account.
• Right now another dinosaur by a meaningless name of MZANSI 90 has emerged are bound to start, start the corruption as usual. Are we in 1990? Have we qualified yet for the AFCON tournament to be held in South Africa in 2014. Suddenly boys from the Diamond firms whose corporate ethics raises eyebrows and some bank marketing functionaries are firmly on the driver’s seat and we are cruising on the fastlane to hell. We also have some aspiring politicians, ‘national price fixers’, and discredited DJs among the line-up bash.
Zifa wake up, do you want history to repeat itself? Who is in charge of all the resources of being amassed by the MZANSI 90 group? The money would disappear like what happened to the proceeds of the Brazil game which took place at the National Sports Stadium in 2010. As if not the end, they would smuggle in sekuru, girlfriends, concubine to overtake you Cuthbert Cube from the left in single lane road which you are in charge. Cuthbert Dube and your sleeping dogs hangers on be on guard you are playing with jackals and soon Zifa would be rabid. These are vehicles with no brakes when it comes to financial engineering. Why has Cuthbert Dube has to folk in his personal savings to support the warriors? I smell a civet cat.