The ManicaPost
Mugove Chigada in FRANCEVILLE, Gabon—
SENEGALESE coach, Aliou Cisse, believes coaches from Africa have developed enough to lead national teams successfully at international tournaments.
| Cisse and Callisto Pasuwa are two of the few African coaches leading national teams at the 2017 AFCON finals in Gabon. |
With it comes to the burden of local coaches, and in Cisse’s case, it means managing players with big profiles that earn more money than the coach.
Yet Cisse, who has been with the team for some time now, says he has a good relationship with most of the players, while the stars that differ with him will have to get into shape.
For Pasuwa the challenges are different.
Cisse has the likes of Napoli star, Kalido Koulibaly, Everton midfielder, Idrissa Gueye, Liverpool’s Sadio Mane, Cheikhou Kouyate of West Ham and Stoke City’s Mame Diouf.
“These are generally questions I don’t want to answer. In Africa, we have very good coaches which mean we should give them a chance,” said Cisse.
“Zimbabwe qualified for AFCON which means they have a story to tell. This is a situation that has been prevailing for a long time.”
Senegal, like any other African team with talented players in Europe sometimes struggle to get their players released for duty.
For that reason, Senegal have been one of the underachievers at Africa’s biggest tournament as their players get released just before the tournament.
That sometimes means they have little time to bond or be thorough in their preparations.
“It is up to the confederations that we are respected as African coaches. Anytime that we want our players, we should be able to get them,” he said.
For a difference, Senegal were unbeaten in the qualification campaign and they started their Group B match at the finals against Tunisia and won 2-0.
Such success, Cisse said, has more to do with just the brilliance of his players.
“We have tried to make sure that they have humility. That is very important for the team. With that, you can succeed. So that change of attitude gives you something different,” he said
The Senegalese coach had to create a good squad overtime just like his counterpart Pasuwa.
“I have been with these players for two years and I believe we have a good relationship. If a player is not happy about something, there is nothing we can do about it. They have to follow what we want,” he says.
In Zimbabwe, the debate about local and foreign coaches has been on for a while.
But it seems the record have shown the country might be better off with local coaches.
In 2004, it was Sunday Chidzambwa who took the Warriors to the Africa Cup of Nations though they did not manage to go past the group stage.
In 2006, another local mentor, Charles Mhlauri helped the country qualify for the finals and the former CAPS United coach has since relocated to the United States of America.
Pasuwa made history by becoming the third coach to achieve that or even better the records in those two editions.
Warriors skipper, Willard Katsande, said they have a lot of respect for the local gaffer despite the fact that he never played his football in Europe.
“We have some very good players in our team. The likes of Khama Billiat, Knowledge Musona and Marvelous Nakamba are all very good.
“But when it comes to the tactics, it is the coach. We believe in him. We may have our abilities, but at the end of the day he comes with the tactics and we have to have respect him,” said Katsande.
There are a number of coaches in Africa, including Guinea, who failed to qualify despite having foreign coach, Luis Fernandez, who has since left.
After being held to a one-all draw at Rufaro during the qualifiers, the Guinea coach was stunned, wanted to know how old Pasuwa was and where he had attained his qualifications.
The fact that Zimbabwe does not have as much stars as the West and North African teams tells the story about African or Zimbabwean coaches readiness for the big stage.
The country had not been given any chance at Gabon but the fighting spirit caught the imagination of the locals.
“This is not about me. This is about the players and an opportunity for them to play well so that they are recognised and bought by foreign clubs.
“For me this is good experience to be exposed to such a high level as a local coach, facing some teams that can be tactically superior,” said Pasuwa.
