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Micho favourite for Warriors job

Sport
SERBIAN coach Milutin Sredojevic, also known as Micho, has emerged as firm favourite to land the Warriors coaching job on the back of his vast experience in African football.

SERBIAN coach Milutin Sredojevic, also known as Micho, has emerged as firm favourite to land the Warriors coaching job on the back of his vast experience in African football.

BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

With the Warriors coaching job falling vacant on December 31, when interim coach Joey Antipas’ contract ends, Zifa has begun the hunt for a substantive coach ahead of a hectic 2019 schedule, which will see Zimbabwe participating in the 2021 African Cup of Nations qualifiers as well as the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and the African Nations Championships tournament in Cameroon.

While Antipas, who also coaches Chicken Inn, acquitted himself well during his tenure, informed sources say he falls short in terms of experience at the highest level of the game.

The Chicken Inn coach delivered the African Nations Championships (Chan) finals ticket, a Fifa 2022 World Cup groups stages qualifying slot as well as four points from a possible six in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group H qualifiers with a 2-1 victory over neighbours Zambia, which was one of the highlights of his tenure.

“There are no doubts he (Antipas) did very well during the time he was interim coach, but how does he compare with say Micho in terms of experience?” a source said.

“The Serbian has an edge in most aspects and there are also other coaches with a lot of experience. I think if you look at it from that perspective, it’s likely the Serbian will land the job should there be no other candidate more experienced than him.”

Micho presided over the Uganda national soccer team for four years guiding them to the 2017 Afcon finals for the first time since 1978.

Six months after the Afcon finals, he joined Orlando Pirates, but quit the club in a huff for a job at Zamalek, where he was recently fired over poor results.

The 50-year-old Serbian also took charge of Rwanda between 2011 and 2013.

Experienced former Macedonia gaffer Janevski Cedomir, who has also coached top clubs in Europe, has registered his interest in the job after submitting his credentials to Zifa for consideration.

Portuguese national Vaz Pinto also forwarded his CV in the hope of landing the top job.

The Portuguese coached in Angola and Ethiopia, taking charge of Recreativo Libobo of Angola, who booted out Zimbabwean Caf Confederation Cup representative Ngezi Platinum Stars in 2017.

Also in the race is Belgian Jean Francois Losciuto, who is the least experienced of the three, having coached lowly ranked Black Leopards of South Africa.