FORMER Warriors coach and Zifa technical director Gibson Homela says the national team should forget about taking part in high-level competitions.
FORTUNE MBELE SPORTS REPORTER
He urged Zifa to instead direct efforts on development of junior football to build a strong team for the future.
This follows the Warriors exiting from the first round of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers other losing to Tanzania following the 2-2 draw at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
They lost 0-1 to the Taifa Stars in Dar es Salaam two weeks ago.
The Warriors lost 2-3 on aggregate and on Sunday head coach Ian “Dibango” Gorowa reportedly gave up the national team job after the game.
Homela said Zimbabwe should forget about the Warriors, who have only been to the Afcon finals in 2004 and 2006 and have never qualified for the Fifa World Cup.
“We must forget about Warriors and start development structures. Zifa must make sure there is quality organised football in schools, where coaches should be qualified. These developmental structures must start from zonal, district, provincial and then national levels,” Homela said.
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“I don’t think the Warriors problem is a coaches’ problem. The fabric is not there in the juniors. Players that are being selected are average and the task ahead is very difficult.
“The quality of players from the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is affecting our football. As a country, we are not prepared to compete at this high level. We are just short-circuiting things. Now that we are out for a very long time, it’s our chance to put our act together.”
Homela, a member of the Zifa high performance technical committee, said that body no longer exists as they were not consulted.
The committee appointed by Zifa in 2012 was made up of Homela, former board member (competitions) Benedict Moyo, former technical advisor and Warriors coach Dieter-Klaus Pagels, former technical director Nelson Matongorere, national coaches association chairman Bheki Nyoni, Aces Academy director Mark Duvillard and Cosmas “Tsano” Zulu.
“As the high performance committee, we have done nothing and have not been consulted. We can make some contributions from an informed decision and based on experience and the qualification of coaches that we hire. When I say coaches I mean the technical team. At the moment, I don’t know who to blame,” Homela said.
“At one time when we were supposed to meet in Harare, we were told that there was no money to transport me and Cosmas as all the other members are from Harare. That shows us that we are not serious.”
The former Warriors coach took a swipe at the media, which he said was not making constructive criticism at the prevailing scenario regarding the Warriors especially in build-ups to the Warriors’ matches.
“At times it is the newspapers that are to blame for being too patriotic. Media is sensational instead of being factual. There is no constructive criticism. You might be patriotic, but at the end of the day the solution and the results will not be patriotic,” Homela said.
Last year, Homela fired at Zifa after the Warriors lost two matches in eight days — 2-4 to Egypt at home on June 9 and 2-0 to Guinea in Conakry where they travelled with a depleted squad — to crash out of the World Cup qualifiers.
“People need to consult further. A Caesarean section of the whole system is called for with all stakeholders taking part — PSL leaders and football veterans — who can contribute positively towards the growth of the game. The Sport ministry has also not done any enforcing. They are the biggest culprits. Maybe, they should just drop the sport and just be an Education and Culture ministry. These people running our football are not properly guided,” Homela stated then.
