Sports / Soccer
Gorowa not stepping down
03 Jun 2014 at 14:47hrs | Views
WARRIORS coach Ian Gorowa is not stepping down and says the team's disastrous elimination by Tanzania at the first hurdle of the 2015 Nations Cup finals is a reflection of the deep crisis that has gripped Zimbabwean football.
It marked the fourth campaign, in either the World Cup or the Nations Cup, which the Warriors have taken part in, since Zifa president Cuthbert Dube became the leader of the association, with the senior national team failing on each occasion.
The Warriors are just coming from their worst World Cup campaign, where they failed to win even one of their six matches and finished bottom of the group, and now they have matched their worst World Cup campaign.
Gorowa is the sixth coach to be used by Dube, in the past four years, but the Warriors have failed in each campaign while protests in their camp over bonuses and allowances, which usually come on the eve of the big matches, have become a common feature.
The Warriors are now out of international football, for at least two years, and the bleak situation is being compounded by the fact that the Young Warriors are also out of international football as they are serving a three-year ban after the Under-20s and Under-17s failed to fulfil their African Youth Cup fixtures.
Gorowa said he was devastated and considered quitting the national team after Sunday's game but would not let emotions get the better of him.
He apologised to the nation, on behalf of his players, in the wake of their failed campaign.
"That was not a good result at all and for that I would like to apologise to the nation. I also want to apologise to the journalists for not turning up for the press conference," Gorowa told our Harare Bureau.
"I am sure you would understand how I felt after that match. I am really sorry about that, I think the emotions were still high then.
"I am sure the players were also hurt and I am apologising on their behalf. The country has endured a lot of hardships in terms of getting results over the years.
"We are not developing and let's face it, we are in a national crisis in terms of football. It is after falling to a country like Tanzania when we have to accept as a nation whether we are good enough to compete.
"I also think that it was a blessing in disguise to know where we stand as a footballing nation. We cannot continue fooling ourselves, there is a crisis. It's indeed a national crisis when our team crashes out of the Afcon at the preliminary round stage.
"We need to sit down, not only with Zifa but with all stakeholders, to see how best we can come out of this crisis. We learnt the hard way but we have to take a stance to rebuild the national game."
Gorowa paid dearly for investing so much trust in the group of players that did duty at the recent Chan tournament in South Africa.
"As a coach, you take time to reflect and see if you had selected the right players and whether you put them in the correct positions. But I believed in the team," said Gorowa.
"It's difficult to pinpoint what went wrong. I wouldn't want to lay the blame on my players although we did stress the whole week the importance of winning that match.
"The easiest thing for me was to walk away after that result but I am Zimbabwean first of all and I love my country. I admit we are in a time of crisis. I thought I about quitting and I realised it was not good to make a decision when emotions are high."
Gorowa also felt Tanzania deserved to win more than his side because the Taifa Stars are taking football seriously and had prepared thoroughly.
"With due respect Tanzania had done their preparation well. Those guys came here and they fought with great spirit to get that draw. We also have to factor in that God is a faithful rewarder of people, according to how much work they put into something.
"They have been in camp for two months and they played a couple of friendly matches yet on our side we met five days before the match and somewhere along the way players go on strike. I am not saying, it's that protest that disturbed us, no.
"There is definitely no excuse. Everybody who was involved, we were all wrong. We all failed the nation but after failure we have to look in the mirror and find ways to move forward," said Gorowa.
It marked the fourth campaign, in either the World Cup or the Nations Cup, which the Warriors have taken part in, since Zifa president Cuthbert Dube became the leader of the association, with the senior national team failing on each occasion.
The Warriors are just coming from their worst World Cup campaign, where they failed to win even one of their six matches and finished bottom of the group, and now they have matched their worst World Cup campaign.
Gorowa is the sixth coach to be used by Dube, in the past four years, but the Warriors have failed in each campaign while protests in their camp over bonuses and allowances, which usually come on the eve of the big matches, have become a common feature.
The Warriors are now out of international football, for at least two years, and the bleak situation is being compounded by the fact that the Young Warriors are also out of international football as they are serving a three-year ban after the Under-20s and Under-17s failed to fulfil their African Youth Cup fixtures.
Gorowa said he was devastated and considered quitting the national team after Sunday's game but would not let emotions get the better of him.
He apologised to the nation, on behalf of his players, in the wake of their failed campaign.
"That was not a good result at all and for that I would like to apologise to the nation. I also want to apologise to the journalists for not turning up for the press conference," Gorowa told our Harare Bureau.
"I am sure you would understand how I felt after that match. I am really sorry about that, I think the emotions were still high then.
"I am sure the players were also hurt and I am apologising on their behalf. The country has endured a lot of hardships in terms of getting results over the years.
"I also think that it was a blessing in disguise to know where we stand as a footballing nation. We cannot continue fooling ourselves, there is a crisis. It's indeed a national crisis when our team crashes out of the Afcon at the preliminary round stage.
"We need to sit down, not only with Zifa but with all stakeholders, to see how best we can come out of this crisis. We learnt the hard way but we have to take a stance to rebuild the national game."
Gorowa paid dearly for investing so much trust in the group of players that did duty at the recent Chan tournament in South Africa.
"As a coach, you take time to reflect and see if you had selected the right players and whether you put them in the correct positions. But I believed in the team," said Gorowa.
"It's difficult to pinpoint what went wrong. I wouldn't want to lay the blame on my players although we did stress the whole week the importance of winning that match.
"The easiest thing for me was to walk away after that result but I am Zimbabwean first of all and I love my country. I admit we are in a time of crisis. I thought I about quitting and I realised it was not good to make a decision when emotions are high."
Gorowa also felt Tanzania deserved to win more than his side because the Taifa Stars are taking football seriously and had prepared thoroughly.
"With due respect Tanzania had done their preparation well. Those guys came here and they fought with great spirit to get that draw. We also have to factor in that God is a faithful rewarder of people, according to how much work they put into something.
"They have been in camp for two months and they played a couple of friendly matches yet on our side we met five days before the match and somewhere along the way players go on strike. I am not saying, it's that protest that disturbed us, no.
"There is definitely no excuse. Everybody who was involved, we were all wrong. We all failed the nation but after failure we have to look in the mirror and find ways to move forward," said Gorowa.
Source - chronicle
