The poor performance of the Zimbabwe national football team against Guinea on Sunday cannot go unscrutinised. It is very unfair to lay blame on goalkeeper Washington Arubi for failing to clear the backpass he received from Danny Phiri.
By Samson Padiwa,Our Reader
I differ with many soccer fans. Firstly, why did coach Kalisto Pasuwa opt for a double anchoring duo of Willard Katsande and Danny Phiri? We were playing at home with the whole country behind the team, surely Pasuwa got it wrong. For the entire game he did not even change the team’s strategy to adjust to the demands of the match.
To make matters worse, the team did not have a playmaker, someone in the mould of Ronald Sibanda or Johannes Ngodzo.
Surprisingly, we have some good local-based players who could have played better than the much overrated foreign-based ones.The players that quickly come to mind are Raphael Manuvire, Ronald Chitiyo and Highlanders’ young playermaker King Nadolo, who challenged Dynamos’ aggressive players Stephen Alimenda and Obey Mwerahari.
From my point of view, Pasuwa runs short of ideas tactically when his expertise is needed most. Zifa must appoint someone who can assist him like Bruce Grobbelaar, otherwise we will fail to qualify for the African Cup of Nations in 2017 again.
