It’s not time for experiments

Sport
Zimbabwe Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa should be applauded for casting his net wide and giving the chance to Poland-based Andrew Gwaze of Gornik Zabrez, on-fire Orlando Pirates striker Tendai Ndoro and Tapiwa Chilenga of Triangle in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa should be applauded for casting his net wide and giving the chance to Poland-based Andrew Gwaze of Gornik Zabrez, on-fire Orlando Pirates striker Tendai Ndoro and Tapiwa Chilenga of Triangle in Zimbabwe.

INSIDESPORT WITH MICHAEL KARIATI

There are too many exceptionally-gifted Zimbabwean players scattered all over the globe and this requires Pasuwa’s shrewd eye to discover and give them a chance as Zimbabwe seeks a way back to the top in African football.

What is refreshing is that the whole exercise by the former Dynamos coach is not only aimed at the two remaining 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, but for the future and more importantly, for the Afcon finals in Gabon.

King Kali, as Pasuwa is affectionately known, is trying to give all promising Zimbabwean players the chance to have a dance with the Warriors and prove themselves to the nation.

However, there is a danger that too many experiments at this stage of the Afcon qualifiers could prove disastrous at this most crucial time enroute to the 2017 Africa football finals.

With the marathon qualifying process reaching its climax, this is not the time for Pasuwa to experiment too much with new talent, but to use his usual trusted team. The fact that the team he has used in the past four matches has gone this far, shows that they can be trusted for the remaining crucial matches.

Zimbabwe are only four points away from qualifying for the finals but this is not the time to get too excited and get carried away. Fine, there is need for experiments, but they should only come into motion when the job has already been done.

Games like the one against Malawi and later against Guinea have a lot of pressure and new players might find it difficult to adjust to the requirements.

Former Warriors coach Amando Ferreira did it in 1991 when he opted for John Sibanda instead of the trusted Peter Fanwell and the game against Congo at the National Sports Stadium was a disaster for the Warriors.

This is not the time for experiments.

Let us not forget the future One disturbing development in Zimbabwean football is that in the past, the Zimbabwe Football Association regimes have tended to concentrate more on immediate senior national team results, forgetting the future. This was expected to change when the Phillip Chiyangwa leadership came into office and announced a return to international participation by Zimbabwe junior teams which had been withdrawn from Caf competitions by the previous Cuthbert Dube-led board due to non-availability of funds. However, what had looked like a promising future for the Zimbabwean junior teams has turned out to be nothing as the teams continue to be neglected, as evidenced by the treatment the Under-20 side received just before their 2017 Africa Championship engagement against Cameroon. The team trained for only three days and Young Warriors coach Jairos Tapera revealed that a day before the game, he had to use his own personal resources to go and look for one of the players, Obert Tafira, for him to join camp. Tapera, a former Young Warriors international himself, said the Highlanders striker trained for only 30 minutes ahead of the game, which ended in a goalless draw, and gave the Cameroonians an advantage ahead of the return leg in Yaounde next weekend. The results were there for everyone to see as the Young Warriors were no match for the Cameroonians and were even lucky to come out with a share of the spoils — thanks to the Cameroonians’ failure to convert the numerous chances they created. The question is: How did those leading Zimbabwean football expect the Young Warriors to succeed under such circumstances? What is disheartening is that Zifa had known for a long time that the junior team was going to participate in this competition, yet they did nothing to create an atmosphere that guaranteed home success. Yet only a few days ago, Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa was telling the nation that he had told senior national team coach Kalisto Pasuwa to look everywhere across the globe for good Zimbabwean players for the national team, assuring him that Zifa would provide the funds. Why are Zifa prioritising the senior team while neglecting the junior teams? Zifa should be reminded that the current senior national team players will one day go and there will be need for replacements. But where would these replacements come from when the authorities are abandoning junior talent? Zimbabwean football authorities need to change their attitude and belief that national team football life begins and ends with the Warriors. Immediate senior national team results are needed but let us not also forget the future.

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