Zimbabwe to unveil Brazilian coach

Zimbabwe to unveil Brazilian coach

• Glory for Under 17s, Mighty Warriors

• Mandigora, Msiska get Warriors jobs

• Zimbabwe's Under 20 team wins COSAFA Cup

• Mapeza's brave Warriors beat Malawi

• Mapeza leaves out foreign-based professionals

• Mapeza, Duvillard to take charge of Warriors

• Mhlauri bitter over Warriors exit

• ZIFA wields axe on Mhlauri

• Mhlauri a mistake, says Chidzambwa

• Warriors fall in Morocco, Mhlauri faces axe

• Mhlauri's fury over Ndlovu no-show

By Tendai Tsuro

ZIMBABWE’S new Brazilian soccer coach arrives in the country on Tuesday, January 8, and will be presented to Zimbabwe's sports editors from the mainstream media at 6pm on the same day, it has been learnt.

Zimbabwe has been without a coach since Charles Mhlauri was sacked in June last year.

Speculation has been rife on the identity of the coach to spearhead Zimbabwe's bid for a place at both the 2010 FIFA World Cup and CAF Nations Cup finals, but the waiting comes to an end next week.

Zimbabwe Football Association chief executive officer Henrietta Rushwaya confirmed on Friday the Brazilian would arrive aboard a lunchtime South African Airways flight.

“The Brazilian coach arrives on Tuesday and will be whisked away to the (Brazilian Embassy). Initially, he will meet with Sports Editors on Tuesday evening before he is presented to the rest of the media on Wednesday, at a Press conference. We want him to have a feel of the country first before he faces the rest of the journalists the following day. But we cannot release his name now, as this will be done next week,” said Rushwaya.

Rushwaya said Zifa have invited Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono, to be guest of honour during Tuesday's closed-door meeting.

“But we are yet to confirm Dr Gono's availability because we hear the governor is on leave,” she added.

Speculation on the identity of the coach has been mounting in recent weeks, with two individuals, both former junior coaches with Brazil's under-20 squads -- Rene Weber or Nelson Rodriguez -- being linked with the job of taking Zimbabwe to both South Africa and Angola for the World Cup and AFCON in 2010.

Weber was in charge of the Brazil under-20 in 2005 at the World Youth Championships in the Netherlands, and Rodriguez was in control of the same age-group side at the 2007 edition of the same tournament in Canada.

The Warriors hope to prevail in Group 2 of the qualifiers, which get underway at the end of May. They are pooled with Guinea, Namibia and Kenya.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
ozzie@newzimbabwe.com