Sports / Soccer
Warriors coach defend selection
05 Mar 2013 at 22:58hrs | Views
KLAUS DIETER PAGELS has defended his selection of the Warriors team to face Egypt in a World Cup qualifier insisting that he is on a rebuilding mission with the national team that is focusing on "younger and hungrier players"'.
The Warriors will resume their 2014 World Cup qualification bid with a tough assignment against five-time African Champions Egypt in Alexandria on March 26.
Egypt, with six points from two games, lead the Group G table while the Warriors are third and a distant five points behind from as many games.
The Warriors are hoping to revive their fading qualification hopes by upstaging the Pharaohs in a match that had to be moved from the cauldron of Cairo to Alexandria because of the civil unrest that has been rocking the vast North African country.
Despite having failed to qualify for the 2013 African Cup of Nations as did the Warriors, the Pharaohs seem to have quickly regrouped and are currently in charge of their fate in the race for the continent's five slots at next year's World Cup finals in Brazil.
It is against the background of their flying start to the second stage of the qualifiers that the Pharaohs have been installed favourites to win a Group G that also includes Guinea and Mozambique.
Egypt, led by ageless Al Ahly midfielder Mohamed Aboutrika, overcame Mozambique 2-0 at home on June 1 last year before they upstaged Guinea 3-2 with a last-gasp Mohamed Salah winner in Conakry a week later.
The tough qualification race started with 24 teams fighting to make it into the second round which has 10 groups of four teams each.
In the third and final stage of the African qualifiers, the 10 group winners will play-off over two legs to determine who travels to Brazil to represent the continent and the Warriors would have to top their table in order to proceed to that third phase.
Pagels was yesterday unfazed by both Egypt's high profile and their bright start to the qualifiers and reckoned that his new-look Warriors, laced with a host of rookies could still spring a surprise in Alexandria.
Genuine concerns have, however, been raised on the composition of the side which Pagels picked for crunch tie which is short on both experience and grit.
But the tall German coach maintained yesterday that he had picked a team that was in line with the mandate he had been given by Zifa to rebuild the Warriors by starting afresh.
Pagels said although he would be aiming for a win in Egypt, his main mission with the Warriors would be to ensure he builds a team that would qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations in Libya as well as next year's African Nations Championships in South Africa.
Unlike the World Cup and the Nations Cup qualifiers, the CHAN competition is reserved only for those players plying their trade in their national leagues.
But it is the lightweight side announced by Pagels through team manager Sharrif Mussa on Monday that has triggered questions over its pedigree to withstand the heat against an Egyptian outfit that is a mixture of youth and experience.
That Egypt could travel to Conakry and steal an away win against a Guinea team that had silenced the Warriors 1-0 at the National Sports Stadium puts into perspective the tough assignment that awaits Pagels and his troops.
The Zifa technical adviser, however, said he was confident the squad which he first assembled for an international friendly against Botswana at Rufaro on February 6 will with time blossom into a force on the continent and pleaded for patience from Zimbabweans for his side.
"We are totally rebuilding. Zifa gave me a target to qualify for the AFCON 2015, Cosafa and CHAN and that is our main objective.
"It is not that I want to lose in Egypt, I want to win and I want to win with these players. We need to go and win in Egypt and then try to win all our matches if we are to qualify for the next stage of the World Cup.
"I believe in these players, they played really good football (against Botswana) and everyone was happy so we are trying to build from there," Pagels said.
Pagels said the majority of the Warriors' experienced players had paid the price for the senior teams' past failures and he reckoned they could not do much to change the senior team's fortunes now.
"All the players that have been in the Warriors in the past didn't achieve anything so I don't see why there should be complaints about them.
"I want younger players who are hungrier because we are looking to the future but football is like a wonder bag and nobody can promise anything before a match is played, we can only talk after," Pagels said.
Pagels also said pressure should not be put on his charges as Zimbabwe's qualification bid had already been jeopardised by the results of the Warriors first two assignments against Guinea and Mozambique.
"To expect this team to qualify for the World Cup will be asking for a little too much from them but we will try our best to compete. Look we are already five points behind on the log table but that cannot stop us from trying.
"We also want to qualify for the AFCON, Cosafa and CHAN but first we have to look at the Egypt game then after that we can look at the Cosafa and the CHAN qualifiers.
"What is important is for everyone in football to be patient with this team. If we qualify for the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers it will be a big bonus but I am not saying it cannot be done.
"I don't think this team is underweight, it is younger and hungrier and we cannot say they do not have the capacity to go and compete in Egypt," Pagels said.
The Warriors who are also hoping to squeeze a friendly match against Swaziland in Egypt days before their game, are looking at having their training camp in the North African country in a bid to try and maximise on the few days they will have together.
Despite Pagels defending his choice, the German coach must be quietly concerned about the lack of game time on the part of some of the players he is banking on to do duty in Alexandria.
Apart from the Dynamos defensive trio of Ocean Mushure, Partson Jaure and Augustine Mbara who have been playing Champions League football, the rest of the local contingent are lacking game time because of the off-season break here.
Work permit challenges have delayed striker Rodreck Mutuma's debut in the South African Premiership while defender Lincoln Zvasiya has constantly been overlooked for selection at Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs.
The Warriors will resume their 2014 World Cup qualification bid with a tough assignment against five-time African Champions Egypt in Alexandria on March 26.
Egypt, with six points from two games, lead the Group G table while the Warriors are third and a distant five points behind from as many games.
The Warriors are hoping to revive their fading qualification hopes by upstaging the Pharaohs in a match that had to be moved from the cauldron of Cairo to Alexandria because of the civil unrest that has been rocking the vast North African country.
Despite having failed to qualify for the 2013 African Cup of Nations as did the Warriors, the Pharaohs seem to have quickly regrouped and are currently in charge of their fate in the race for the continent's five slots at next year's World Cup finals in Brazil.
It is against the background of their flying start to the second stage of the qualifiers that the Pharaohs have been installed favourites to win a Group G that also includes Guinea and Mozambique.
Egypt, led by ageless Al Ahly midfielder Mohamed Aboutrika, overcame Mozambique 2-0 at home on June 1 last year before they upstaged Guinea 3-2 with a last-gasp Mohamed Salah winner in Conakry a week later.
The tough qualification race started with 24 teams fighting to make it into the second round which has 10 groups of four teams each.
In the third and final stage of the African qualifiers, the 10 group winners will play-off over two legs to determine who travels to Brazil to represent the continent and the Warriors would have to top their table in order to proceed to that third phase.
Pagels was yesterday unfazed by both Egypt's high profile and their bright start to the qualifiers and reckoned that his new-look Warriors, laced with a host of rookies could still spring a surprise in Alexandria.
Genuine concerns have, however, been raised on the composition of the side which Pagels picked for crunch tie which is short on both experience and grit.
But the tall German coach maintained yesterday that he had picked a team that was in line with the mandate he had been given by Zifa to rebuild the Warriors by starting afresh.
Pagels said although he would be aiming for a win in Egypt, his main mission with the Warriors would be to ensure he builds a team that would qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations in Libya as well as next year's African Nations Championships in South Africa.
Unlike the World Cup and the Nations Cup qualifiers, the CHAN competition is reserved only for those players plying their trade in their national leagues.
But it is the lightweight side announced by Pagels through team manager Sharrif Mussa on Monday that has triggered questions over its pedigree to withstand the heat against an Egyptian outfit that is a mixture of youth and experience.
That Egypt could travel to Conakry and steal an away win against a Guinea team that had silenced the Warriors 1-0 at the National Sports Stadium puts into perspective the tough assignment that awaits Pagels and his troops.
"We are totally rebuilding. Zifa gave me a target to qualify for the AFCON 2015, Cosafa and CHAN and that is our main objective.
"It is not that I want to lose in Egypt, I want to win and I want to win with these players. We need to go and win in Egypt and then try to win all our matches if we are to qualify for the next stage of the World Cup.
"I believe in these players, they played really good football (against Botswana) and everyone was happy so we are trying to build from there," Pagels said.
Pagels said the majority of the Warriors' experienced players had paid the price for the senior teams' past failures and he reckoned they could not do much to change the senior team's fortunes now.
"All the players that have been in the Warriors in the past didn't achieve anything so I don't see why there should be complaints about them.
"I want younger players who are hungrier because we are looking to the future but football is like a wonder bag and nobody can promise anything before a match is played, we can only talk after," Pagels said.
Pagels also said pressure should not be put on his charges as Zimbabwe's qualification bid had already been jeopardised by the results of the Warriors first two assignments against Guinea and Mozambique.
"To expect this team to qualify for the World Cup will be asking for a little too much from them but we will try our best to compete. Look we are already five points behind on the log table but that cannot stop us from trying.
"We also want to qualify for the AFCON, Cosafa and CHAN but first we have to look at the Egypt game then after that we can look at the Cosafa and the CHAN qualifiers.
"What is important is for everyone in football to be patient with this team. If we qualify for the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers it will be a big bonus but I am not saying it cannot be done.
"I don't think this team is underweight, it is younger and hungrier and we cannot say they do not have the capacity to go and compete in Egypt," Pagels said.
The Warriors who are also hoping to squeeze a friendly match against Swaziland in Egypt days before their game, are looking at having their training camp in the North African country in a bid to try and maximise on the few days they will have together.
Despite Pagels defending his choice, the German coach must be quietly concerned about the lack of game time on the part of some of the players he is banking on to do duty in Alexandria.
Apart from the Dynamos defensive trio of Ocean Mushure, Partson Jaure and Augustine Mbara who have been playing Champions League football, the rest of the local contingent are lacking game time because of the off-season break here.
Work permit challenges have delayed striker Rodreck Mutuma's debut in the South African Premiership while defender Lincoln Zvasiya has constantly been overlooked for selection at Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs.
Source - theherald
