Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. ROMANIAN tactician Marian Marinica’s tenure as the Zimbabwe Warriors’ coach got off to a turbulent start, suffering a morale-sapping 3-1 defeat to African powerhouse Algeria in a friendly match in Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening.
The result, coupled with reports of camp implosion and key player absences, has handed Marinica a brutal baptism of fire in his first outing.
Marinica had promised to unleash an attacking brand of football, but his side was overwhelmed by one of the continent’s best teams.
Algeria, who look sharp ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), were utterly dominant in the first half, racing to a three-goal lead.
Captain Baghdad Bounedjah drew first blood, poking the ball past Washington Arubi after an inch-perfect pass from Mohamed Amoura.
Amoura then turned scorer four minutes before the break, with Bounedjah returning the favour. Defender Jaouen Hadjam capped the dominant display, making it three in first half stoppage time.
Zimbabwe showed slightly more resilience in the second half, probably due to Algeria stepping off the gas, and managed to pull one back late through a Tawanda Chirewa penalty.
However, the damage had been done.
As Marinica himself noted after the game.
“So many of our players are absent, but a very, very good team and with a very good coach, very good personnel, they (Algeria ) have, I think, you know, they have a fantastic chance of doing well at Afcon,” he said.
“Well, I think, in a way, our work ethic wasn’t there in the first half. I don’t think, you know, my players worked hard enough the way I wanted.”
Senior player and defender Gerald Takwara admitted they struggled to contain Algeria in the first half.
“It was a good game. Algeria were showing us some flames in the first half,” he said.
“They were playing very good. They dominated the first half. That’s why we conceded three goals.
“But come the second half, we were a little bit compact. We were working together.
“Second half was better for us also. We managed to score one goal. But then we lost to a better team and they are one of the best in the world.”
The match revealed a team in a state of flux, underlined by the selection and absence of several prominent players.
Marinica’s starting line-up was largely experimental, featuring an inexperienced midfield of Jonah Fabisch, Sean Fusire, Tawanda Maswanhise, Bill Antonio and Walter Musona.
The defence saw Teenage Hadebe, Gerald Takwara, Munashe Garan’anga and Brendan Galloway taking up positions, with Washington Navaya as the lone striker.
Crucially, key figures like captain Marvelous Nakamba, Jordan Zemura, Divine Lunga and Tivonge Rushesha were conspicuously missing from the team sheet.
This immediately fuelled speculation of a potential beef between the coach and some senior players, particularly Nakamba and Zemura, who were often deployed in a more advanced role by former coach Michael Nees.
Further deepening the sense of unrest was the reported abrupt departure of goal-scorer Tawanda Chirewa immediately after the Algeria match, ahead of the next friendly.
The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) was quickly prompted to release a clarifying statement, asserting that Chirewa was granted permission to leave to be assessed by the new technical team at his parent club, Wolverhampton Wanderers, calling it a professional and mutually respectful alignment.
With the dust barely settled from the demoralising defeat and the off-field drama, Marinica has very little time to regroup and implement his methods.
The Warriors face their next test on Monday evening against Qatar in Doha.
The challenge for the Romanian now is not only to improve the performance on the pitch, but also quickly settle the atmosphere within the camp and forge a united front out of his seemingly fractured squad.
For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe Follow Africa-Press
