The Pharaohs laboured to a 2-1 first leg win in Alexandria and coming to Harare, Zimbabwe must win if they are not to be counted among the continental weeping boys.
The loss in Egypt was Pagels’ first competitive match in charge of the Warriors. His team played impressively, but in soccer, losing cannot be undone by statistics of dominance, hence the German-born mentor, whose side lost after they had conceded a penalty, should know that any coach is as good as his last win.
Only a spellbinding performance that produces a win on Sunday will give the local fans confidence that Pagels is capable of taking The Warriors back to the heights they scaled under his now late compatriot, Reinhadt Fabisch, of the “Dream Team” fame.
Pagels is on the job on a caretaker basis and knows pretty well that his team’s performance in the World Cup match will be one of the instrumental deciders of whether he gets a long term contract or not.
Performances against Egypt made Fabisch a hero, who at some stage led The Warriors to a 13-match unbeaten Africa Cup and World Cup qualifiers streak in the early 90s on his way to placing them ninth in Africa on the Fifa world rankings.
Part of that streak included beating the Egyptians 1-0 at the National Sports Stadium, which led The Warriors to the second stage of the 1994 World Cup qualification at the expense of the same team, after they had held them to a 0-0 draw replay in Lyon, France.
With that in mind, Pagels has set the Warriors the ambitious target of winning all three of their remaining World Cup matches, in case the leaders slip-up in a campaign the Warriors have a very slim chance of succeeding as they bid to qualify for Brazil 2014.
Egypt lead Group G with nine points from three matches and are being trailed by Guinea with four points and Mozambique with two, while The Warriors are rock-bottom with just a single point.
‘There are still three games left for each team and anything can happen. What we need to do is to win all our remaining games and see what happens thereafter,” said the German.
A loss for The Warriors will effectively rule them out of the World Cup contest for the umpteenth time, but a win will push them to four points. That will still not be enough to put them on course irrespective of the result of the other match between Guinea and Mozambique, yet it will restore some national pride.
The Warriors need to build on their Alexandria experience, where they attacked relentlessly, defended resolutely and kept possession for the better part of the game.
The coach has to be spot-on with his team selection, including getting the right partner for German-based Knowledge Musona, as most of the forwards he has tried so far have been a disappointment. That has left Musona with the heavy mantle of trying to single-handedly get the goals.
Already, there have been question marks over his use of Ocean Mushure and Partson Jaure in defence and should Pagels decide to keep them, he has to instil confidence in the two players, who appear to be getting overawed by the occasion of playing at such a high level of the game.
The two have admittedly had the accolade of playing for Dynamos in the CAF Champions League, but playing Al Ahly is different from fighting against a galaxy of stars from the reigning African club champions.
While the Warriors midfield has been creative with Ovidy Karuru and Denver Mukamba, some still believe there is need to give another chance to Kaizer Chiefs’ Willard Katsande to add an extra guile.
However, Pagels has maintained that he is the boss and in charge of team selection, telling his critics straight in their face that if there was a player they wanted included in his squad, then they should do that in their own teams.
While Guinea on June 9 and later Mozambique on September 6 might not pose much of a threat, the Warriors have to brace themselves for a bruising battle against the Pharaohs. The Egyptians have a very strong side, which they have built over the past three years, and is capable of challenging the best on the continent for that vital place at the World Cup.
Like The warriors, the Egyptians missed out on both the 2012 and 2013 Nations Cup finals, but still have a record six Africa Cup Nations titles and a 1990 World Cup appearance to boast about. Their three wins in as many games in the group can also intimidate any opponent.
Their clubs Al-Ahly and Zamalek were voted Africa’s top two teams of the 20th century by the Confederation of African Football – with a collective total of 10 CAF Champions League titles. Their coach, Bob Bradley, has called players mainly from these top three teams, so the players have been together for some time and know each other’s style of play.
“They are the favourites, but that does not mean anything. They were also favourites to qualify for the 2012 and 2013 Nations Cup, after they had won in 2010, but they didn’t. For certain, we can beat Egypt. No team is unbeatable,” boasted an unfazed Pagels.
Post published in: Football