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Zifa in the dark on Gorowa; fans blast Zifa, coach

Sport
ZIFA were last night still in the dark about Warriors coach Ian Gorowa’s decision to quit the national team after Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Tanzania.

ZIFA were last night still in the dark about Warriors coach Ian Gorowa’s decision to quit the national team after Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Tanzania which eliminated Zimbabwe from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

HENRY MHARA/TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

No comment could be obtained from Gorowa after the match as he flatly refused to talk to the media and was also unavailable to respond to the speculation on his future yesterday as his mobile phone went unanswered.

Zifa said they were yet to receive the coach’s resignation letter when quizzed about Gorowa’s Warriors job.

“We haven’t received any resignation letter from anyone and that includes Warriors coach Ian Gorowa. Maybe it’s coming, but right now I don’t have it and what that means is he is still the Warriors coach,” Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela yesterday afternoon said.

However, players confided to NewsDay Sport that Gorowa told them in the dressing room after the match that he would not continue as Warriors coach.

“The team talk was not long. He [Gorowa] came to us when we were stretching inside the centre circle after the match, but he didn’t say anything. When he came into the dressing room, everyone was expecting a rollicking, but he was very calm,” one of the players said.

“He told us we should have done better with the chances we had created in the match. At the end of his address, he said he would not continue as our coach and wished us well with the team in future.”

Another player said: “We were all disappointed about the result and that we had let the coach and the nation down. No one said a word after the coach’s pronouncement.

“We just looked at each other while others gazed down, the atmosphere was just bad. I think we did well, but we were just unlucky.”

Chasing the game 1-0 after losing away in Dar es Salaam in the first leg, the Warriors were well on course to overturn the deficit when Danny Phiri scored with just four minutes on the board to level the tie at 1-1.

But two defensive blunders gifted Tanzania two goals, midway through the first half and straight from the half-time break, and while Willard Katsande scored the equaliser with more than 30 minutes still to play, the Warriors were not just good enough to find the two goals needed to rescue the tie.

And they bowed out of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations campaign at the first huddle.

Gorowa had no contract with Zifa, but a “memorandum of understanding” to stay on until 2015, but it is understood that the national association, through Cuthbert Dube and Omega Sibanda, will try to persuade the coach to stay on despite the disaster.

As Zimbabwe goes through the wreckage of their painful elimination by Tanzania, most football followers have expressed disappointment with the Warriors performance on Sunday.

Zimbabwe drew 2-2 with the Taifa Stars of Tanzania at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday to crash out of the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The Warriors had gone into the match needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Dar es Salaam, but Gorowa’s men were held to a 2-2 draw — a result which meant they fell 3-2 on aggregate.

That left Zimbabwean fans in mourning.

Alvin Machiridza: “It’s so disappointing to fail at this stage, but the problem is with the coach. His team selection is very poor. We have got natural left-backs like Vusa Nyoni, Qadr Amin and Ocean Mushure, but he forces Milton Ncube into that position. “It’s the same with Hardlife Zvirekwi.

“He plays as a midfielder at his club, but he is played as a full-back in the national team.”

Movern Chaitezvi:  “I think our problem is with the coach. We need Norman Mapeza to come in. He demonstrated what he could do the last time he was appointed coach.”

Eria Mushai: “As long as we continue to have faith in the Zifa leadership, we will never qualify for any major tournament. We need to get rid of Zifa first, then our football can move on.

“We cannot talk of the Warriors, performance without talking about Zifa.

“They are responsible for everything about the Warriors including the appointment of coaches.”

Takawira Gwenya:  “We needed a game plan that would have given us the goals, but we relied more on defence-minded players.

“The coach should have sacrificed players like Danny Phiri even though he played well and scored one of the goals because we needed an all-attacking system.” Tadius Gora: “I am a Dynamos supporter, but I think Washington Arubi should have started ahead of George Chigova. He is a more experienced goalkeeper than Chigova.”