Three German nationals including Afcon winner Winfried Schäfer, Antoine Hey and Michael Nees have made it onto the final shortlist of five coaches vying for the Zimbabwe national team coaching job.
The other two are Brazilian Marcio Maximo Barcellos and Spaniard Gerard Nus.
The Zifa Normalisation Committee will be looking to conclude the search for the next Warriors coach this week and this would be the fourth national team coach appointment in a year since the Fifa suspension was lifted.
Brazil-born Portuguese coach Baltemar Brito, Norman Mapeza and lately Jairos Tapera have taken charge of the Warriors in the past 10 months.
In statement, the Zifa NC revealed the names of the coached making the shortlist adding that they were also in the process of finalizing the search for the women senior national team coach.
“The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is pleased to provide an update on the ongoing recruitment process for the Zimbabwe Men’s National Team Head Coach. After an exhaustive search and meticulous selection process, the following applicants have been interviewed for the position:
- Gerard Nus
- Michael Nees
- Marcio Maximo Barcellos
- Antoine Hey
- Winfried Schäfer
“The preliminary interviews were conducted yesterday, Monday, 22 July. The second round of interviews is scheduled to take place over the next few days, ensuring a thorough evaluation of each candidate’s qualifications, vision, and ability to lead our national team to new heights.
“In parallel, ZIFA is diligently working on compiling the shortlist for the Mighty Warriors Head Coach position. The interview process for this role is set to be completed by Monday, 29 July.
“ZIFA remains committed to appointing the most qualified and capable coaches to lead our national teams. We believe that these appointments will significantly contribute to the development and success of Zimbabwean football on the international stage,” they said.
At 39, Nus is the youngest coach on the final list and is an exciting candidate considering the club he has worked for despite lacking experience as a national team head coach.
Nus worked at Liverpool as fitness coach while he was also manager of the youth team back in 2007.
He has also been head of academy coaching at English side Brighton and Hove, managing director sport at Elche and sporting director at Rayo Vallecano.
The Spaniard was Ghana assistant coach between 2013 and 2017 while he was Greece assistant manager in his last known job until March 2024.
A septuagenarian, the 74-year-old Schäfer is the oldest coach vying for the Warriors hot seat and is by far the most experienced while his notable achievement is winning Afcon 2002 with Cameroon.
Schäfer has also coached Thailand and Jamaica senior national teams and was reportedly favourite to land the job last week.
The 53-year-old Hey is not new to Africa after leading teams like Lesotho, Gambia, Liberia, Kenya and Rwanda while he was sporting director in Libya.
Hey also had stints with Bahrain as technical director and Myanmar as manager.
The other German coach Michael Nees has been the manager for Seychelles and Rwanda while he has also been advisor for South Africa and Japan as well as technical director for Kosovo and Israel.
Barcellos (62) from Brazil has been in charge of his country’s Under-20 and Under-17 sides; and has also had stints with Tanzania , Cayman Islands and Guyana.