Zimbabwe: Benjani Mwaruwari Appointed Warriors Assistant Coach
BENJANI Mwaruwari has been appointed the third national team assistant coach with immediate effect, ZIFA confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.
The 43-year-old former Warriors captain, who led the national team at the 2006 Afcon finals is expected to start his new role as early as next week when Zimbabwe host South Africa in a 2022 World Cup qualifier at the National Sports Stadium.
Mwaruwari will join Dynamos coach Tonderayi Ndiraya and Harare City boss Lloyd Chitembwe as the assistant coaches to Croatian Zdravko Logarusic, who is currently the head coach of the national team.
ZIFA in a statement said the decision to appoint Mwaruwari as the third assistant coach in the national team setup was made during the local football mother body's executive committee (Exco) meeting in Harare.
"The Executive Committee received a progress report from the Technical and Development Committee with regards to all matches played in 2021. The Exco resolve that the technical teams will remain unchanged. The Exco further resolved to augment the Warriors' technical team by appointing Benjani Mwaruwari as an Assistant Coach. The appointment is with immediate effect," ZIFA communications manager Xolisai Gwesela said in a statement.
Mwaruwari, who is based in England recently expressed his desire to venture into full-time coaching after attaining his UEFA A coaching licence.
The UEFA A Licence is one level below the UEFA Pro Licence and allows holders to be head coaches of youth teams up to age 18, reserve teams for top-flight clubs, and men's professional second-tier clubs.
This badge enables holders to go for the UEFA Pro Licence, which is the highest coaching certification in Europe's football management.
Benjani, who has been taking a back seat since he retired from professional football in 2014, said in a recent interview in the South African media that he was planning to take up coaching seriously, following in the footsteps of former players like South African legend, Benni McCarthy.
"My wish now is to be involved be it at an academy or as an assistant coach at some club around in Europe," Mwaruwari said in an interview with SAfm.
"Maybe, two years down the line, then I may consider coming back home," said Benjani, who played for top European clubs such as Axxure, Portsmouth, Manchester City, Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers, and Portsmouth.
Mwaruwari's appointment is a big boost for the Warriors, who will host Bafana Bafana in a Group G opener on September 3 before facing Ethiopia in Addis Ababa four days later.
Zimbabwe will then host Ghana on October 6 to complete the first round of fixtures.
The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) have announced a 29-man provisional squad for the opening match against South Africa, but it is the imminent appointment of former Manchester City striker Mwaruwari as one of the assistants that could attract a lot of interest.
There are serious doubts over the availability of England-based players, as Zimbabwe is on the United Kingdom Covid-19 red list zone.
Aston Villa midfielder Marvelous Nakamba (Aston Villa), Brendon Galloway (Plymouth Argyle), Jordan Zemura (AFC Bournemouth), Tendayi Darikwa (Wigan Athletic), Admiral Muskwe (Luton Town), and Macauley Bonne (Ipswich Town) could be affected.
ZIFA, however, remains hopeful that all the players called up will be available.
"The Executive Committee was also notified that they were challenges in the release of players by some Clubs in the United Kingdom. The Association is making frantic efforts for these players to be released for national duty. We have been assured by FIFA that the global football governing body is firm in the interpretation and implementation of its decisions and rules.
"The release of the national team players is mandatory for all clubs for this September 2021 window. The clubs are fully aware of the FIFA regulations and the consequences of non-compliance with the applicable regulatory framework," Gwesela said.
This article originally appeared on New Zimbabwe
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