Warriors attract former Macedonia coach

Experienced former Macedonia Janevski Cedomir, who has also coached top clubs in Europe, has registered his interest in the vacant Warriors coaching job after submitting his credentials to Zifa for consideration.

Zifa are on the prowl for a foreign coach following the stepping down of Sunday Chidzambga last month.

The Macedonian is the most qualified and experienced coach among those who have so far applied for the job.

Zifa is set to advertise the post in a few days, but the local football governing body has already started to receive applications.

While he might not be known to most Zimbabweans, Cedomir holds a big profile, having worked in top leagues in Europe.

Cedomir, who coached the national team in his home country between 2012 and 2013 – as well as several top-flight league teams in Europe, headlines those that have applied for the job for now.

Cedomir coached Belgian giants Club Brugge in 2007 and won the Belgium Cup during his short stint with the club.

He also took charge of FC Vardar Skopje, one of the biggest clubs in Macedonia between 2017 and 2018 qualifying them to the Europa League for the first time in their history and went on to eliminate Turkish giants Fenerbarche.

For that edition, they were pooled in the same group with Russian giants Zenit St Petersburg, Spanish side Real Sociedad and Rosenbor Trondheim of Norway. The 58-year-old presided over Serbian giants Crvena Zvezda, also known as Red Star Belgrade, from 2008 to 2009.

The Serbians shocked English giants Liverpool 2-0 in the Uefa Champions League last year although they bowed out 4-2 on aggregate. He was also in charge of Belgium topflight side Waasland Beveren from 2016 to 2017.

Apart from the Macedonia national, Portuguese national Vaz Pinto also forwarded his CV in the hope of landing the top Warriors job. The Portuguese coached in Angola and Ethiopia, taking charge of Recreativo Libobo of Angola, who booted out Zimbabwean Caf Confederation Cup representative Ngezi Platinum in 2017.

Also in the race is Belgian Jean Francois Losciuto, who is the least experienced of the three, having coached lowly Black Leopards of South Africa. He was also one of the backroom staff of the Super Eagles of Nigeria who were under the guidance of the legendary Stephen Keshi.

While the Zifa hierarchy are in favour of a foreign coach, they will not close their door to indigenous coaches with the likes of FC Platinum gaffer Norman Mapeza, among several others set to be considered.

The Warriors, who failed to make a mark in Egypt when they bowed out in the first round of the biennial soccer showcase, were drawn in the same group with reigning champions Algeria, neighbours Zambia and Botswana for the 2021 African Cup of Nations.

For the 2022 World Cup campaign, the Warriors were paired against minnows Somalia in the preliminary round whose games will be played between September 2 and 10. Zifa are determined to ensure the Warriors qualify for the World Cup for the first time in their history.