Reinhard Fabisch: An extraordinary football life

Reinhard Fabisch: An extraordinary football life

GENTLE GIANT: Fabisch took charge of Benin at the African Cup of Nations finals in Ghana early this year

MEMORIES: The BBC's Farayi Mungazi

• Former Zimbabwe coach Fabisch dies

• Zimbabwe in trouble after draw with Kenya

• Kenya go top after win over Zimbabwe

• Mushangazhike double sends Warriors through

• Nation warms up to Valinhos

• Draw sets Warriors as Group Three favourites

• Woeful Warriors draw with Namibia

• Malajila gives Zimbabwe victory in Botswana

• Matola own goal hands South Africa victory

• Highlanders refuse to release players for national team

• Ndlovu, Nyandoro out of South Africa clash

• Ndlovu gets Warriors recall

• Valinhos spells end of Ndlovu's international career

• Brazilian Valinhos is new Zimbabwe coach

Former Zimbabwe national soccer team coach Reinhard Fabisch died on Monday, July 14. Former Radio 1 and ZTV football commentator Farayi Mungazi, now with the BBC World Service, writes exclusively for New Zimbabwe.com on an extraordinary football life:

By Farayi Mungazi

NO LONGER will we see him pacing up and down the touchline resembling a man desperately looking for his car keys.

No longer will we see him barking instructions to his players from the dug-out, or berating a referee for being “the most ignorant man I’ve ever seen”.

With the death of Reinhard Fabisch comes the end of an extraordinary football life.

I will always remember him as a mild-mannered, easy-going coach blessed with the ability to transform teams and individuals.

But I shall also remember that not everyone in positions of authority - from referees to administrators - admired Fabisch’s abrasive style.

The German was constantly in trouble with the game’s big-wigs, thanks to his outspoken views and refusal to bow the knee before authority.

His often outrageous comments and eccentric behaviour made him one of the best-known foreign coaches in Africa.

For a man of personality, it was also inevitable that his name would become a byword for controversy.

Ever brash and opinionated, Fabisch was a true football maverick, a man who will go down in history as one of the most highly regarded coaches to work in African football.

I last saw him in Ghana during the African Nations Cup in February when, in his hotel room, he told me that he had been offered money to fix one of Benin’s matches.

It was a story that cast a dark shadow over this year’s tournament and irked some African football chiefs who felt Fabisch should not have spoken during the event.

But, as always, Fabisch was unrepentant: “I have a duty to players and fans, so I can’t keep my mouth shut if someone offers me money to fix a game,” he told me.

I knew Fabisch well but not intimately. I found him to be a coach who was resolutely loyal to his players, implacable if he felt they were being unfairly treated.

He loved talking about the game and was genuinely passionate about Africa. He never ducked questions, and always made himself available to journalists.

It should not be forgotten what an outstanding job he made of managing the Warriors. Under his astute tutelage, they came agonisingly close to qualifying for the 1994 World Cup.

He will be a huge loss to the game. May his football-loving soul rest in peace.

Farayi Mungazi, a former ZBC Radio 1 and TV football commentator, works for the BBC World Service
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