SPORTS REPORTER
The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has appointed FC Platinum head coach Norman Mapeza (pictured) as the caretaker coach of the Zimbabwe senior men national football team, the Warriors on a three months contract, BT Sport can report.
He will be assisted by Highlander coach Mandla Mpofu and Triangle United coach Taurai Mangwiro.
Chicken Inn goalkeepers’ coach Energy Murambadoro will be the goal keepers’ coach.
No official comment was obtained from ZIFA by the time of going to print.
But, multiple sources at ZIFA told BT Sport: “He (Norman Mapeza) accepted the offer. He settled for Mangwiro, Mpofu, and Murambadoro,” one source said.
Mapeza replaces Zdravko Logarusic who was fired on Sunday. Logarusic recorded a single win in 14 games.
The Warriors drew 1-1 with 2022 World Cup Group G rivals South Africa at the National Sports Stadium, Harare, two weeks ago.
They lost 0-1 to Ethiopia, at the Bahir Dar Stadium last Tuesday, dashing their hopes of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, leaving the Warriors rooted at the bottom of the qualifying group.
The defeat prompted ZIFA to fire Logarusic.
Mapeza’s appointment in the national team set-up is his fifth after his first stint as the caretaker coach in 2007, then on an interim basis again in 2010.
His first substantive role came in 2011-12 before returning five years later as a caretaker coach at the beginning of the 2019 Afcon Qualifiers.
His most recent spell saw him taking charge of the famous 3-0 victory over Liberia at the National Sports Stadium in Harare to begin the 2019 Afcon qualifiers.
