IAN GOROWA, the former Warriors star – has been linked with the position of national football team assistant coach following the confirmation of German Klaus Dieter Pagels as head coach yesterday.
REPORT BY WELLINGTON TONI SPORTS EDITOR
Pagels, as revealed by NewsDay Sport yesterday, will be officially unveiled next month.
His new line-up will see the return of Sharif Mussa as team manager replacing Nyika Chifamba. Peter Ndlovu, by virtue of being the Under-23 coach, remains in the technical team while Nkululeko Dlamini is the new goalkeepers’ coach.
Gorowa, now a soccer expert on Supersport, has also been linked with the vacant post of AmaZulu coach in South Africa and should he take the job, he will remain at his base in the neighbouring country.
“That will be a first for Zimbabwe as we will now have a coach to monitor most of our players in South Africa and bring his recommendations to the team. We are working on that to see how we can work around his commitments in South Africa and get him to join our technical team,” a source close to the developments at Zifa said yesterday.
Gorowa played for the now defunct Cape Town Spurs where he made a name for himself as an attacking winger. His playing days came to an abrupt end at the age of 29 when he suffered a career-ending injury while playing for Spurs.
He has 26 caps for the senior national team and also played at the 1998 Cosafa Castle Cup.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
After his retirement, he became Spurs’ assistant coach. When Spurs merged with Seven Stars to form Ajax Cape Town, Gorowa was roped in by Ajax chief executive officer John Comitis as one of the development coaches.
He then went on to become the team’s assistant coach. As assistant to Turk Muhsin Ertugral, the Urban Warriors managed to win the 2007 ABSA Cup — the club’s first major trophy since 2000.
He joined The Birds on a three-year contract in June 2007 to replace Gavin Hunt who moved to SuperSport United as replacement for Pitso Mosimane who chose to take up a full-time job as Carlos Alberto Parreira’s deputy in the Bafana Bafana dressing room.
He later parted ways with the club and worked as an assistant coach at Thanda Royal Zulu, and also took up a similar position at Mamelodi Sundowns before he was moved to caretaker coach last season.
He was not offered the full time coach’s position as the cash rich Brazilians brought in Johan Neeskens, who is now in his second season at Chloorkop. Gorowa was made chief scout but officially left the club on August 28 2012.
The ex-Zimbabwe international was one of the graduates of the South African Football Association (SAFA) Level 3 Pro Licence class of 2012.
In a statement yesterday confirming the appointment of Pagels, Zifa said:
“The interim technical structure will be headed by the current Technical Advisor of the Association, (Mr) Klaus Pagels who was seconded to the Zimbabwe Football Association in 2011 by the Germany Olympic Committee. Mr Pagels will be tasked with recommending to the Zifa Board the following (among other issues): the appointment of his assistant coaches, goalkeepers trainer, team manager, fitness trainer and kit man, drawing up a training programme for the new look senior national men’s team, carrying out surveillance missions on players plying their trade in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Europe and Asia, drawing up a programme for friendly matches and preparations for the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers.”
The statement added: “The Zimbabwe Football Association settled for the German coach, given the existing government-to-government cooperation which would see the Association engaging a highly qualified coach in the shortest possible time frame. The association will however continue on a hunt for a highly qualified coach who should take charge of the senior national men’s future campaigns in the long term. A local coach with unquestionable potential and enthusiasm shall be recommended to work with Mr Klaus Pagels as part of the Associations capacity building and succession plan.”
