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NewsDay

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‘I have Egypt game plan’

Sport
WARRIORS coach Klaus Dieter Pagels says he now has the game plan for the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Egypt next month.

WARRIORS coach Klaus Dieter Pagels says he now has the game plan for the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Egypt next month. REPORT BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

The German mentor revealed that he now has an idea of what to expect from Egypt after gathering information about their play and the players they have.

He said he has DVDs of Egypt’s friendly match against Chile in which they fielded mostly Europe-based professionals as the match fell on the Fifa calendar for international friendlies.

The Pharaohs were defeated 2-1 by Chile in that friendly and Pagels says he has an idea of how they play and also knows most of their players.

He said he also had DVDs of their other friendly matches against Ghana and Ivory Coast prior to the just-ended African Cup of Nations in South Africa.

The Egyptians, Pagels said, fielded home-based players in both matches which were not on the Fifa calendar for international friendlies, and lost 3-0 to Ghana and 4-2 to Ivory Coast.

“I have gathered information about Egypt and I now have the tactical plan for the game. I have DVDS of their friendly match against Chile. They used foreign based players for the match which was on the Fifa calendar and used home-based players for the matches against Ivory Coast and Ghana. I now have a game plan. I now have an idea of what to expect,” said Pagels.

The Warriors coach had a great start since he was roped in to the hot seat last year following the resignation of Rahman Gumbo after his charges defeated Botswana’s Zebras 2-1 in an international friendly match at Rufaro last month.

Building from the back as Pagels has described his philosophy, the Warriors won the hearts of fans with their slick passing game.

However, that could not mask the team’s defensive frailties which, against better opposition, could have been punished and needs big power players like Willard Katsande.

And a review of that match will show that Pagels needs a security blanket as he faces the Egyptians.

But the German coach is confident of getting a good result to breathe life into a faltering campaign. He said he would revert to a 4-4-2 formation for the Egypt game after having played with three defenders during the Botswana game.

“That was just a friendly match, an assessment game. I used three defenders at first for the Botswana match, but changed the system in the second half. I will revert to a 4-4-2 formation for the Egypt match,” said Pagels.

Zimbabwe has just a single point from their first two matches.