WHAT exactly is happening at Zifa House ? Or say, NC House since they have moved out of 53 Livingstone Avenue, the known headquarters of Zimbabwean football.
Less than a month before the Warriors take to the field, Zimbabwe does not have a national team coach yet word is that the team for the June 7 match against Lesotho and the one against South Africa on June 11 has already been selected.
What is surprising is that some already know who has been selected and who has not and the grapevine out there already has it that some of the players like England based Tivonge Rushesha have been overlooked after he 'raised his voice' over what he is owed by the NC for 'previous work' done.
If this is correct, then the question is: Who selects the national team? Is he qualified to carry out that duty and more importantly, what are his interests in the whole process?
It should be placed on record that the 22-year-old Rushesha has twice turned out for Wales Under 17, but has opted to represent Zimbabwe, his country of origin at senior level only to be 'frozen' out by the authorities.
England-based Zimbabwean sports journalist Admire Muhimeke comments that this is wrong emphasising that selection for the national team should be on merit.
"If Zimbabwe are to build a strong team then they should select the best players available and that selection should be done by the national coach not from the office. I think, everything is being done the wrong way and that needs to change," advises Muhimeke.
In this regard, the Zifa normalisation committee should abandon their newly adopted national team selection process and return power to the coach before the bomb that is ticking explodes.
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It should be remembered that this is the same selection system that created problems after Norman Mapeza did not field some of the players he took to Malawi for the Four Nations Tournament because they did not fit in his system of play.
In fact, that Four Nations Tournament served no purpose and was not only a waste of money, but also the players' time as most of them came from far-off places only to sit on the sidelines.
Sadly, though, the story continues and now that the team for Lesotho and South Africa has been selected, the question is: Who will be responsible for the results of the two matches now that the coach will be using players he did not select?
Surely, the damage has already been done and to minimise it, the NC needs to appoint a coach who knows the Zimbabwean players well or has a rough idea of how they play and that man is Baltermar Brito.
Brito spent two weeks with the Warriors in Rwanda where they picked up two points against the hosts and Nigeria and built a strong relationship with the Warriors, which was cut when his contract was not extended.
Yes, some are talking of former Indomitable Lions coach Winfried Schafer, but we should not live with the belief that a coach who was successful in another country will be successful in ours.
Instead, Zimbabwe should identify its own coach and strive to create a hero out of him.
Herve Renard was an unknown quantity when he arrived in Zambia and Reinhard Fabisch built his name with the Warriors and we need Brito to help us raise the name of the Warriors and that of his own on the international scene.
If we cannot have Brito, then we need to identify another coach whom we will shoot to prominence ourselves instead of those who have been all over places and made names in other countries.
We need a coach who will be remembered or associated with Zimbabwe wherever he will go after leaving the Warriors.
- For your comments, views, and suggestions mkariati@gmail.com or WhatsApp on 0773 266 779.
