By Alvin Moyo, Football Writer
THIS is probably isn’t the worst Zimbabwe team ever.
But the bare facts state that, for the first time, the national team has failed to win in seven consecutive qualifying matches.
And after back-to-back losses to Ghana, Zimbabwe were the first country in the African groups for whom qualification is arithmetically impossible. Those statistics betray a fallibility that goes way beyond a dip in form and instead suggest a trough that may not yet have reached its deepest point.
There has been little over the course of this campaign or, indeed, the last one to give cause to believe better and happier days are just around the corner.
When it became clear that Zimbabwe would not be in Qatar in 2022, the matches facing the national team over the remainder of qualifying were a trip to South Africa and a home tie against Ethiopia.
And substitute coach, Norman Mapeza was expected to bring back little of the lost dignity, a task he failed at: dismally!
Too this summer, there is the small matter of the Africa Cup of Nations Finals to be held in Cameroun next January. Few fair-minded observers would look at ant sort of draw at the finals and pick out an obvious Zimbabwe win.
And for all the criticism of Zdravko “Loga” Logarusic towards the end of his tenure (and from the beginning all the way through the middle), a change of coach has not been enough to bring about an immediate upturn in fortunes. The obvious conclusion, then, is that the players at the national coach’s disposal simply aren’t good enough to be remotely competitive on the international stage.
Certainly, in each of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, they have been outplayed and out passed by each of their opponents, who have not all possessed players of greater technical proficiency. Any and all coaches with a bit of honesty will concede that this is not an issue for which there exists a quick fix.
And not only were the Ghanaians more gifted as footballers, they were also bigger and stronger. Yes, Zimbabwe plays with heart, but that is a quality that will rarely suffice at this level, and Zifa, fans and journalists must know it!
The thing is, Zimbabwe can currently call upon more players from English football leagues – considered by many to be among the best in the world – than at any time in the preceding 40 years.
But even the most technically adept of those – like Marvellous Nakamba – would struggle to make the starting line-ups of any of the other nations in Group G (except perhaps the Ethiopians, though they won over Zimbabwe too). Steps should be taken to try to address this, with centres of excellence must be created, new facilities must be developed and a new footballing culture must be introduced.
If and when this is done, it will be laudable and welcome, but also at least 40 years too late and of little help in addressing the problem in the short term.
Another fact that cannot be ignored is the starting line-ups against South Africa and Ethiopia despite being dead rubbers featured not one player from the Under-23 or other development teams. That is a damning indictment of Zifa’s suppose development strategy (if indeed it even exists) that has been on the decline, quality-wise, for years.
What seems certain is that if the status quo remains, Zimbabwean football will continue to stagnate, at domestic level and beyond. However, the immediate concern for Mapeza (or whoever takes Zimbabwe to the Afcon finals) is how to put an end to this embarrassing run of results.
Mapeza may be afforded time to get things right, but the fact is that he too is currently staring down the barrel of a finals campaign with no victories.
And if that materialises, we might have to accept the tag of the worst Zimbabwe team ever.
