Norman Mapeza Waiting On ZIFA
Former Warriors coach Norman Mapeza said that he is waiting to hear from the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) on the way forward following the expiry of his contract at the just-ended Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon last week.
The 49-year-old FC Platinum coach had been working on an interim basis since September last year after the sacking of Croatian coach, Zdravko Logarusic.
Speaking to The Herald, Mapeza conceded that his short-term tenure did not work out as he would have wanted.
He was in charge of eight games and won one, drew two and lost five. Mapeza said:
At the end of the day, I’m not the one who makes decisions.
When I was appointed for those last four matches of the World Cup, of course, the objective was to do well and see how we will progress. But it didn’t work according to my liking.
I thought my contract was done at the end of December but then they (ZIFA) asked me to take the team to AFCON. So the decision definitely lies with them.
We will see what is going to happen. But my wish is for whoever is going to take over, to see our football develop.
I had my opportunity and as I said, statistics don’t lie. There’s no way I’m going to say I won seven out of 10 games. Statistics are clear for everybody to see.
What I wanted to achieve didn’t happen. Everybody wanted us to go there and do well but it didn’t happen and we have to move on.
What is important now is to plan for the future of our football, especially with the national teams.
Logarusic was in charge of the Warriors at CHAN and COSAFA tournaments where they performed poorly.
Following uninspiring performances in the Warriors’ first two 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Loga was fired.
Mapeza then took over in September 2021 but managed only one point from the last four World Cup qualifiers.
In spite of his failure to breathe life into the Warriors’ World Cup qualifying campaign, Mapeza’s contract was extended to cover the AFCON tournament in Cameroon.
