GERMAN national Michael Nees began his reign as Warriors coach on Tuesday, promising to bring back smiles on the lips of the senior men’s team supporters.
The 57-year-old gaffer touted himself as a “modern and innovative coach”, who is driven by international challenges and can think “outside the box” to gain a competitive advantage.
Since the lifting of the Fifa ban last year, The Warriors have not had a substantive coach with the normalisation committee appointing interim heads for assignments.
In July last year, Zifa appointed then Highlanders coach Baltemor Brito as interim head of The Warriors.
His reign ended when his tenure at the Bulawayo giants came to an end on December 31 last year.
Zifa then turned to FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza, who led the team during a four-nation tourney in Malawi early this year saying it was working on appointing a substantive coach.
In May, it assigned Manica Diamonds coach Jairos Tapera, who led the team in two World Cup qualifiers and the Cosafa tourney.
Work is cut out for Nees as he has a month to prepare, with the Warriors embarking on the Afcon 2025 qualifiers next month.
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The Warriors are in Group J alongside continental powerhouses Cameroon, bogey side Kenya and regional campaigners Namibia.
The Afcon qualifiers begin in September and end in November.
What complicates matters for Nees is that The Warriors will play all their matches away from home as Zimbabwe does not have a Caf-certified stadium despite government promises to speed up the revamp of the National Sports Stadium.
This means The Warriors will not enjoy home advantage in this tough group in which a win at home will be key for each team’s chances of qualifying for the biennial tournament.
Despite the odds being stacked against him, Nees is brimming with confidence.
“I am confident in achieving these goals because I have the expertise to professionally enhance all major factors of performance and to make a difference within a short period. I will guide the national team with dedication and professionalism and work to achieve a winning Zimbabwe that can make the nation proud,” he said.
Nees needs the support of all stakeholders.
Government must speed up work at the National Sports Stadium so that it meets the requirements of Caf which will see The Warriors playing their home matches at home.
The Warriors need the fans to be right behind them as the twelfth man and this should happen on home soil.
There is a pool of talented players locally and abroad that must be gelled to build a strong Warriors side.
The Cosafa tourney and the World Cup qualifiers have shown the talent at the coach’s disposal.
Nees’s work began on Tuesday and he faces his first test next month with a trip to Kenya.
It is a crucial match to judge Nees’s technical abilities after the German was allowed to beat his own drum this week as a “modern and innovative coach”.
