Clueless Zifa says sorry

ZIFA have been forced to accept responsibility for the Warriors' failure and yesterday apologised to the nation for the embarrassment that followed the national team's first round elimination from the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers.

The association described the Warriors' campaign as "dismal".

Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela said they will seek to engage stakeholders to move forward.

"The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) would like to apologise to the football fraternity and the nation at large for the dismal performance displayed by the Warriors in our 2015 AFCON campaign," Gwesela said in a statement.

"This disappointing performance brought our 2015 AFCON dream to an abrupt end.

"As Zifa, we were optimistic that the Warriors would proceed to the group stages and go on to qualify for 2015 AFCON, but it was to no avail.

"We would like to thank the Government, the corporate world and fans for supporting the Warriors through thick and thin.

"Going forward, we are currently drawing up a long term plan that will guide us to the 2014 COSAFA tournament, 2016 CHAN, 2017 AFCON and 2018 WORLD CUP.

"We have put in place a High Performance Technical Committee that will meet the coach. A detailed report with recommendations will be produced and the board will inevitably implement those recommendations.

"As the Football mother body we are in the process of promoting vibrant programs for the grassroots, the Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 for both Men and Women. There is an old adage that says ‘bear defeat but never lose heart."

"Let's remain united and optimistic as a nation."

Warriors coach Ian Gorowa says the current generation of the national team has failed and believes the only way forward is to disband the side and start afresh with the youth teams.

Gorowa is set to present his proposals when he meets the High Performance Technical Committee led by Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe to review the disastrous campaign and to plan for the future tournaments which include the 2017 Afcon and the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

The committee, which reports to the Zifa Board, was set up over a year ago when Zimbabwe crashed out of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after losing to Angola but has been inactive since.

Gorowa told The Herald that they have embarrassed the nation after losing 3-2 aggregate to Tanzania in the first round of the preliminary stage.

"If I had my way I would disband the national team and start afresh probably working with the Under-23s, and forget about the senior team for a while.

"We also use these young players to play at the Cosafa and CHAN tournaments where we play not to win but to develop and build a strong foundation for the future team. Obviously that would also need patience.

"Now is time to identify talent and forget about the current generation which has failed. Most of these guys have been in this national team for four to five years now and we cannot keep relying on them.

"Of course, there are some good players in the current national team who have age on their side," said Gorowa.

Zimbabwe will be out of international football for at least two years as they will now have to wait for the 2017 Afcon qualifiers which will begin sometime in 2016.

Gorowa said they should start talent identification programme now and arrange tournaments to give the young players exposure.

However, there would be nothing much to expect from the rebuilding exercise as the Under-17 and Under-20 teams are currently banned for failing to fulfill fixtures.

Gorowa admitted that the foreign-based players had failed to give value to the national team and urged the players to be more ambitious.

"It's a fact we are bettering and empowering the South African league but when these players come here they are not performing well.

"It's confusing. With all respect I am encouraging these guys not to get satisfied by just going to play in South Africa.

They should not feel that they have arrived. Instead they should aim higher to Europe," said Gorowa.