Nothing short of an appearance in the finals will assuage the thirst for success of local fans, who have had to support other countries in international competitions, as their own falls by the wayside.
The last time Zimbabweans got to cheer for their national team in such a big competition was when The Warriors appeared in their second African Nations Cup at Egypt 2006.
They were forced to patriotically root for Southern Africa in the following four editions of the continent’s biggest soccer showpiece – 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013 and for Africa in the 2010 World Cup.
More painful was the fact that the last edition of the Afcon and the World Cup were played across the river in South Africa, a bus drive from Harare and Bulawayo and also home to millions of Zimbabweans.
Bad outings usually lead to bad rankings and Zimbabwe’s embarrassing results in their most recent tournaments recently saw The Warriors continue a downward spiral in the Coca-Cola World rankings, published every month.
They dropped four places to 114th position, after they occupied 108th last month, as stand-in national coach, Klaus Dieter Pagels’ “rebuilding exercise” works with ZIFA Chairman, Cuthbert Dube’s “Asiagate clean-up” exercise to bring misery to local soccer lovers.
With indications that ZIFA could have overlooked the German-born mentor for the substantive national team-coaching job, Pagels could be the least of our worries, regardless of the results he posts at the regional tournament. Dube remains a liability whose heavy weight on our national soccer shoulders looks to be prolonged. He recently indicated that he would seek re-election in his current post, meaning that only the next voting process can save The Warriors.
So, as Zimbabwe play Malawi at Zambia’s Nkoloma Stadium on Saturday, the quarterfinal will not be the only match fans will be hoping to win.
We could save face by putting on a good performance at this year’s Cosafa Cup. If we win, we would be the only side to have clinched the tournament a record five times and equal the record of winning back-to-back titles currently held by hosts Zambia and South Africa.
Pagels will also be trying to bow out of his job as Warriors coach without the record of being the only coach to have failed to lead Zimbabwe to a single win. His first task as he tries to break the hoodoo would be to win against The Flames who drew 1-1 with the Warriors in a recent friendly tie. Zambia, who beat us 2-0 in a recent friendly, are still favourites for this tournament, with their home ground advantage. South Africa, who bring a third-string side after most of their top clubs withdrew regular Bafana Bafana players from the tournament, cannot be completely counted out.
So, Pagels and his boys, who have all three of the games in the 2014 FIFA World Cup first qualifying round to Guinea and Egypt, have their work cut out for them.
Post published in: Football
So, Pagels and his boys, who have all three of the games in the 2014 FIFA World Cup first qualifying round to Guinea and Egypt, have their work cut out for them.