Some Warriors fans believe the newly-appointed head coach Michael Nees should be given a chance, despite his lack of experience leading African national teams or winning trophies on the continent.
On July 30, the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Normalisation Committee announced the appointment of the 57-year-old German tactician as the new head coach of the Zimbabwe Men’s National Team.
Nees will be tasked with leading the Warriors in the qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
He is the first substantive Warriors coach since Croatian national Zdravko Logarusic was fired a couple of years ago.
While Nees’ resume may not include major achievements in Africa, Warriors “number one” supporter Chris “Romario” Musekiwa believes the best fans can do is get behind the new coach. Said Musekiwa:
Congratulations to the newly-appointed coach and we wish him all the best.
I implore the football fraternity to rally behind him [Nees] in his endeavour to turn the Warriors’ fortunes around.
The ZIFA normalisation committee should give him maximum support through organising friendly internationals as we prepare for the 2025 AFCON qualifiers [that are] coming soon.
We don’t know much about him, so the best we can do is to support him and see what he can deliver.
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers played in June 2024, ZIFA reportedly selected the squad for the matches, with the then interim coach Jairos Tapera having no say in the selections.
Another Warriors fan, using the name Wilo Wilocious on Facebook, has called for ZIFA to allow Nees to have full control over the selection of players and his assistant coaches. Wrote Wilo:
He will definitely succeed, provided he is given the freedom to choose his own assistants. Freedom to go around watching local matches; freedom to have friendly matches; freedom to speak his mind.
According to NewsDay, Nees’s curriculum vitae (CV) shows that he has had brief stints as the head coach of the national teams of Seychelles and Rwanda, but failed to lead them to any significant achievements.
He only lasted three matches as the Seychelles boss and coached Rwanda in just two matches.
Nees’s coaching experience has primarily been with the under-21 teams of Israel and Kosovo, and he has never qualified for a major tournament as a head coach.
In his remarks following his appointment, Nees expressed his intention to make the Warriors “unpredictable.” He said:
I am a modern and innovative coach who is driven by international challenges and who can think outside the box to gain a competitive advantage.
Without a doubt, the Warriors always have great players and massive team potential, but they need to avoid being too predictable to qualify for the FIFA World Cup and the African Cup of Nations.
I am confident in achieving these goals because I have the expertise to professionally enhance all major factors of performance and to make a difference within a short period.
I will guide the national team with dedication and professionalism, and work to achieve a winning Zimbabwe that can make the nation proud.
More: Pindula News