16 November 2021
Jeremiah Harrison
Sports Reporter
Warriors interim coach, Norman Mapeza’s future with the national team hangs in the balance after Sunday’s disappointing one all draw against Ethiopia in a World Cup qualifier.
In an interview with the press on Saturday Mapeza said he had been building for the future.
Mapeza took over from Croatian Zdravko Logarusic who failed to produce any good results for the national team during his stint as the Zimbabwe National soccer team.
The Croatian coach, nicknamed Loga had a bunch of loses, after he was given enough time to time take the Warriors to dizzy heights.
Loga was given a chance at the African National Championship (CHAN) Tournament in Cameroon but he could not cope up with the heat.
The Warriors came back home empty handed as they lost all their matches in group A.
They lost to the host nation Cameroon by a goal to nil in an opening match, they went on to play their second match against Burkina Faso and they lost by a 3-1 margin before losing again to Mali by 2-0.
Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Board was patient enough, they gave Loga more time but he failed to deliver.
Under the regime of Loga the Warriors participated in the COSAFA tournament, and lost to Senegal by 2-1, the Zimbabwean Warriors lost to the Brave Warriors of Namibia by 2-0.
They got two points from the tournament when they drew against Malawi by 2-2 before another stalemate against Mozambique.
Again the Warriors had no win from the COSAFA tournament.
Mapeza was given a short-term contract to clean up the mess left by Loga.
From the four matches since he took over he managed to get one point from a possible twelve scoring two goals and conceding six goals.
Mapeza took over and he lost 3-1 to the Black Stars of Ghana away from home, the Warriors lost against Ghana again at home by a goal to nil securing zero points from the back to back fixture against the Black Stars.
They went on to play against South Africa last week and lost by a goal to nil worsening the situation.
Mapeza hoped to win against Ethiopia at home but his dream never came to reality as the game ended in a stalemate.
The Warriors finished the 2022 campaign with no win.
In yesterday’s post-match press conference, Mapeza refused to talk about his future as the Warriors coach in the next AFCON.
“It’s unfortunate my contract runs out after these four games. I can’t talk of any preparations because I don’t know where I would be tomorrow so I can’t be talking about preparations for now,” Mapeza said.
His mantra was that he was building a team for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals set for Cameroon in January.
Zimbabwe is placed in Group B alongside Senegal,Guinea and Malawi.
Zimbabwe have qualified for the third time in a row to the AFCON finals, under Calisto Pasuwa and Sunday Mhofu Chidzambga but all these coaches have failed to reach the round of 16 for the AFCON Tournament.
There has been some improvement in the manner the team is playing since he took over, Mapeza reckons
In other group G World Cup Qualifiers match played, Ghana beat South Africa by a goal to nil courtesy of Andre Ayew from the penaltly spot.
Ghana have secured a place in the play-offs.
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