By Zim Sport Live Writer
The Zimbabwe Football Association has appointed Spanish coach Ramon Catala as the new Warriors head coach as part of a major overhaul of the country’s national-team structure.
Catala, a UEFA Pro Licence holder, will be supported by fellow Spaniards Marc Sanchez and Vicente Girona Izquierdo as ZIFA seeks to establish a single development pathway from junior national teams to the senior side.
The appointments form part of ZIFA’s Dream 2030 programme, which the association says is designed to create greater continuity between Zimbabwe’s men’s and women’s national teams and reduce the reliance on competition-by-competition coaching appointments.
Catala has more than 30 years of coaching and technical experience across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, with previous links to clubs including Celta Vigo, Espanyol, Real Zaragoza and Dynamo Kyiv. He has also worked with the national teams of Nicaragua and Libya.
Sanchez, who will also oversee Zimbabwe’s Under-23 side, has worked with CE Sabadell, CF Damm, Villarreal and Mallorca.
Girona Izquierdo has experience with Villarreal, Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua and the Algerian Football Federation.
ZIFA has also appointed Croatian coach Stella Gotal as head coach of the Mighty Warriors. She becomes the first foreign coach to take charge of Zimbabwe’s senior women’s national team.
Gotal, who also holds a UEFA Pro Licence, has worked within Croatia’s women’s national-team structures and Saudi Arabia’s women’s programme before most recently coaching Gibraltar’s senior women’s side.
ZIFA said the new structure would see players identified from Under-15 level and developed through successive age groups before progressing to senior international football.
The association said the programme was intended to move away from treating the national teams as separate entities, with coaches across the different age groups expected to work towards common technical and tactical principles.
Former Warriors defender Kaitano Tembo has been appointed Under-20 head coach, with former Dynamos and Warriors forward Max Makanza as his assistant.
Ironically Zimbabwe withdraw from the Cosafa Under-20 Championships which serves as the qualifiers for the continental finals which means Tembo and his technical team will not have any international assignments this year.
Tafadzwa Mashiri will coach the Under-17 boys, assisted by former Warriors defender George Mbwando, while Chiwenga will take charge of the Under-15 team with Alexio Sigion as his assistant.
Former ZIFA technical director Wilson Mutekede has been appointed assistant coach of the Under-23 side.
On the women’s side, former Mighty Warriors captain and coach Rosemary Mugadza will lead the Under-20 team, assisted by Naison Muchekela.
Jatson Maphosa and Thubaelihle Sibanda have been appointed head coach and assistant coach of the Under-17 girls respectively, while Irene Mwanza will lead the Under-15 side with Jacob Chavungama as her assistant.
ZIFA said the decision to bring in Spanish coaches was influenced by Spain’s approach to player development rather than simply its record of success at senior international level.
“We are not trying to turn Zimbabwe into Spain,” the association said. “We want to combine Zimbabwean talent with world-class methodology and build a distinctly Zimbabwean football identity.”
The association said national teams would work around shared principles including technical quality, tactical intelligence, intensity, transitions, athletic development, discipline and responsibility.
However, ZIFA stressed that the coaches would not necessarily be required to use the same formations.
The association also said the appointment of foreign coaches was intended to facilitate knowledge transfer and provide opportunities for local coaches to develop alongside them.
Youth coaches, meanwhile, will be assessed on more than tournament results. ZIFA said player development, progression through the national-team system and the number of players eventually reaching senior international football would also form part of their evaluation.
“The greatest achievement of an U17 coach may not simply be winning an U17 tournament,” ZIFA said. “It may be producing six or seven future Warriors or Mighty Warriors.”
The long-term objective, according to ZIFA, is to develop national teams capable of regularly qualifying for and competing at the Africa Cup of Nations, Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups.
The association described the strategy as an attempt to establish one national football philosophy from grassroots level to the senior teams.