Bruce Grobbelaar, who played for the Warriors and Liverpool, says Zimbabwe has the most intelligent and talented players from the whole of Southern Africa.
The “Jungleman” met with the ZIFA Normalisation Committee on Tuesday to discuss his involvement with the national game and the possibility of his appointment as the substantive Warriors coach.
Grobbelaar also visited the FIFA For Schools programme at Prince Edward and later toured the National Sports Stadium during which he also visited the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe offices.
He was accompanied by his wife Janne Karlsen and his advisor Rob Glover.
Speaking to The Herald, Grobbelaar said the Warriors can qualify for the World Cup and win the Africa Cup of Nations if ZIFA can persuade footballers born in Europe who have Zimbabwean roots such as Liverpool’s Trey Nyoni to play for Zimbabwe. He said:
Zimbabwe has the most intelligent and talented players from the whole of Southern Africa.
If you look at the top leagues in Europe you will find more Zimbabwean players than any of the Southern African countries.
Even if you check in the second-tier leagues and if you look at the number of emerging players, youngsters like Trey Nyoni, are all Zimbabweans.
We can qualify for the World Cup and challenge for the Nations Cup.
I have always said and I will say it time and time again, that the most intelligent footballers in Southern Africa are Zimbabweans
Not only do they know the game but they are educated and have a passion for football you can see it.
What we need, what we as a unit together with all the resources that we can get is to get Zimbabwe to the next level.
Grobbelaar said Zimbabwe had been missed from international football after the country’s membership was suspended by FIFA due to Government interference with the running of the game. He said:
We have been sorely missed in world football, and in African football because of the ban and now we are back, there is no reason why we cannot get to the 2026 World Cup.
If you have a look at the players that we have got, we have players playing at the highest level in various countries around the world and for the coach to utilise those players along with the best in this country.
What we have got on offer is something dynamic, something which some countries in Africa don’t have, some countries don’t have foreign-based players, South Africa for example, has one or two… most of their players are playing in the domestic league.
The Warriors are set to take part in a four-team tournament involving Zambia, Kenya and hosts Malawi during the FIFA international window from 18 to 26 March 2024 but the ZIFA Normalisation Committee is yet to appoint a coach for the national team.
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