Pasuwa bounces back

By Nigel Matongorere

HARARE – Callisto Pasuwa has bounced back as the Warriors coach after the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) paid him his outstanding salaries.

Pasuwa, who was also doubling up as the Under-23 coach, quit his posts after the Young Warriors second leg match against South Africa in the African Under-23 Championships qualifier earlier this month.

Since then, Zifa had been running around trying to find a sponsor to pay the former Dynamos coach.

Subsequent meetings with Pasuwa’s representatives in recent weeks had also failed to bring an end to this saga.

However, Zifa officials and Pasuwa’s manager Gibson Mahachi met on Friday night and finally resolved the issue.

“They (Zifa) have paid the coach and he can now go back to his duties,” Mahachi told the Daily News on Sunday.

“We are going to sit down again in the coming week or two weeks to negotiate a proper contract that the coach will now be using from there on.

“At the moment what we were negotiating was the payment of what they owed Pasuwa.

“They agreed they were going to pay and they followed that with a payment this morning.

“Pasuwa is now back with the team and I’m sure he will be announcing his squad for the Guinea game any time soon.

“I’m sure it will all depend on Zifa of when they would want to have the squad released.”

Mahachi said his client was not holding the nation at ransom but they were just asking Zifa to honour the promises they had made.

“It was just an issue where we felt Zifa should just pay what they have promised us. On many occasions they promised us they would pay the coach after the games but that never happened,” he said.

“That’s why you see before the Under-23 team went to South Africa, Pasuwa made it known that he was standing down.

“Now that they have paid up what they owed him and we can now sit down and start planning for a long term contract.”

Pasuwa’s immediate task will be to come up with the squad to face Guinea in the second match of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group L clash at the National Sports Stadium on September 5.

The Warriors made a good start to their Group L campaign with a 2-1 away win over Malawi in Blantyre in June.

Guinea on the other hand suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Swaziland on the same weekend.

Syli Nationale coach Luis Fernandez came in for heavy criticism after the result and has already named a squad for the trip to Harare.

The West Africans are hoping to get their Group L campaign back on track and Fernandez named a strong 20-man roster for the clash against the Warriors.

Former AC Milan midfielder Kevin Constant, who is now playing for Turkish side Trabzonspor headlines the Guinea squad.

Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Ibrahima Traore, who caused all troubled Zimbabwe during Guinea’s last visit to Harare in 2013, is also in the squad.

Paul Pogba’s elder brother Florentin, who plays for Ligue 1 side St Etienne in France has also been included in the squad. Daily News