EDITORIAL COMMENT : Blame game won’t get us anywhere

27 Jan, 2017 - 00:01 0 Views
EDITORIAL COMMENT : Blame game won’t get us anywhere

The ManicaPost

OUR beloved Warriors were this week booted out of the Africa Cup of Nations 2017 edition in Gabon in the group stages of the tournament once again.

This became the third Afcon appearance which ended in just a group stage appearance for the Warriors and just like in the previous editions that we qualified, wordsmiths suddenly got busy coining phrases that expressed disgust, self-hate, hopelessness, anguish, you name it.

Sad that Zimbabweans have the audacity to call each other names, blame one another without really offering solutions to the problems and history will surely judge us harshly for that.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that Zimbabwe failed to go beyond the group stages of the tournament and in the aftermath, their coach, Kalisto Pasuwa and captain, Willard Katsande decided to call it a day with the national team.

More importantly, as we look into the future, Zimbabwe is now bracing for the next Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign and will not be taking part in the next World Cup qualifier.

The fact is that some, if not most, of the current crop of players in the national team will not be part of the squad and that only leaves the nation with the need to act proactively.

While it is easier to start pointing fingers and blame the next person for the downfall in Gabon, it really does not help matters for the nation.

Yes, coach Pasuwa might have erred in a number of ways and so did some of our players, let alone Zifa itself, but if truth be told it is time the nation explore ways of improving our game rather than embark on an unnecessary fault finding mission.

After all, we all make mistakes and the greatest mistake we can ever make in our lives is failure to learn anything from our mistakes.

All we say in real sporting discourse is tough luck guys!

In this regard, it rests upon Philip Chiyangwa, in his capacity as the Zifa president, and his team to put in place realistic plans that will help the Warriors not only qualify and have their impact felt at the next Africa Cup of Nations.

It is now common knowledge that we are in a relatively easier group that consists of Congo, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and ourselves.

It is also common knowledge by now that we will be kick-starting our Group C matches in September this year.

Given that background, one needs not consult a rocket scientist to know that Zifa have a responsibility to announce the next Warriors coach as a matter of urgency.

The need for Government funding for our national team needs not be overemphasised. It has been said time and again.

In some progressive countries the national team funding is the primary responsibility of the State and corporate only come in to support Government initiatives in funding the national team. Surely, Zimbabwe cannot be an exception. Our failure to have sound preparations ahead of crucial tournaments or matches have always been our greatest weakness and one wonders for how many more years are we going to go through the same ordeal without making amends.

We are all aware that the country is going through harsh economic conditions but that is no excuse for the country’s soccer mother body not to secure funding for our flagship football team. After all, when they campaigned to be part of Zifa they promised to secure sponsorship knowing full well that the harsh economic conditions are prevailing.

Walk the talk, comrades!

Share This:

Sponsored Links

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds