GOOD RIDDANCE, EVEN PASUWA IS BETTER THAN HODGSON

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor—
IT’S being dubbed English football’s darkest hour and as they begin the painful inquest into their disastrous $19 million four-year experiment with clueless coach Roy Hodgson, who quit in his moment of shame on Monday night, the Three Lions have turned into the laughing stock of the globe. England, whose Premiership is a star-attraction around the world, unrivalled in its appeal throughout the globe and raking in billions of dollars, crashed out of Euro 2016 on Monday night after an embarrassing loss to lightweights Iceland, who were making their debut appearance at a major international tournament, after Hodgson’s men slumped to a 1-2 loss.

The English game has a massive following in this country and local superstars like Bruce Grobbelaar, who made 628 appearances for Liverpool in 13 years, won six League titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and a European Cup, and Peter Ndlovu — who starred at Coventry City — strengthened the bond between the game and the fans here.

Yesterday, the English media slammed the Three Lions for their latest failure on the big stage, with a number of commentators describing the loss to Iceland as the country’s worst defeat in a football match in history.

Iceland, who have no professional football clubs and have a population of about 330 000 people, proved that money doesn’t guarantee success as their group of hard working players found the character to fight back from conceding an early goal to then score twice in the first half and hang on for a thoroughly deserved victory.

Hodgson’s stunning failure, outfoxed by an Icelandic coach, who is a part-time dentist, will certainly provoke a global debate whether the hiring of coaches, who come with a lofty reputation and cost a fortune, is still a key ingredient in the writing of success stories when it comes to national football teams.

While Hodgson was carrying home a staggering $291 666 a month, Warriors’ coach Callisto Pasuwa earns $7 000 a month and this month ended the country’s 10-year wait for a ticket to the Nations Cup finals in a campaign for a place in Gabon next year, where virtually all the Southern African nations have failed.

Pasuwa succeeded in his first attempt to qualify for the Nations Cup finals despite inheriting a team burdened by failure, including plunging to the depths of a preliminary round loss to Tanzania in the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers.

Crucially, these were players who had lost trust in their national football leaders over broken promises and unpaid bonuses and allowances and in Pasuwa’s first Nations Cup qualifier in charge of the team, away to Malawi, the coach saw his men stage a rebellion in which they refused to board their plane to Blantyre.

Prophet Walter Magaya intervened, late in the night, and saved the situation when he provided the funds which the players were demanding and the Warriors then embarked on a road trip to Blantyre, arriving just hours before their match against the Flames, and — against all odds — beating their hosts 2-1 in that contest.

That was in June last year.

Since then, the Warriors — under the leadership of Pasuwa — have played 16 matches in the 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers, the COSAFA Castle Cup and the CHAN tournament, and have won SEVEN games, drawn SEVEN games and lost just TWO matches.

They have scored 27 goals and conceded 10. The Warriors, under Pasuwa’s guidance, are unbeaten in the Nations Cup matches, beating Malawi home and away, drawing against Swaziland (away) and hammering Sihlangu 4-0 in Harare and also drawing 1-1 against Guinea at Rufaro. That impressive run, which has seen the Warriors score seven goals without reply in their last two Nations Cup qualifiers(4-0 against Swaziland and 3-0 against Malawi), has seen Pasuwa and his men grabbing their ticket to the 2017 Nations Cup finals in Gabon.

It’s the first time that the Warriors, who have qualified twice before to play at the Nations Cup finals, will complete their qualifying campaign top of their group. While the Warriors have failed to make an impression at the COSAFA Cup finals and the CHAN finals, under Pasuwa, the coach has emphasised that he has been using these tournaments largely for the purposes of trying to find the kind of home-based players he can consider to join the troops, largely from foreign bases, who usually get into the trenches for this country fighting in the Nations Cup battles.

The Warriors have lost two matches, drawn three and won one of the six COSAFA Cup and CHAN finals matches they have played under Pasuwa.

Since June last year, when Pasuwa began his adventure with the Warriors, England have played 17 matches, including friendly internationals — under Hodgson — won 11, drawn three and lost three, scoring 31 and conceding 14 goals.

The coach has been found wanting when it comes to the big stage of the tournaments, and an English team which qualified unbeaten for Euro 2016, horribly struggled in France as they won just one game, scrambling a last-minute winner against Wales in their group game, drew two others group matches against Russia and Slovakia and were then humbled by Iceland.

The same England team too under Hodgson, failed to win any of their group matches at the 2014 World Cup finals after being beaten by Italy (1-2) and Uruguay (1-2) and drawing against Costa Rica.

As some of their fans sang, “If you aren’t Muslim, please clap your hands” in France on Monday night, at a time when racial tensions have risen in England, the Three Lions suffered a defeat that has shaken world football and ended their four-year relationship with Hodgson.

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