He is back home
AFTER months of being holed up in a Harare apartment owing to the Covid-19 induced-lockdown, Warriors coach Zdravko “Loga’’ Logarusic has returned to his native Croatia, to be with his family, but has insisted he remains committed to his job at ZIFA. Football is one of the many facets of life, including the economy, that have been ravaged by the outbreak of coronavirus with the continental game suspended since March.
It was the same month in which Loga was due to have his first test as Warriors coach with back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Algeria. The 54-year-old coach, appointed in January, had also only worked for a fortnight with the locally-based Warriors who were preparing for the African Nations Championships (CHAN) tournament when Covid-19 struck.
Now after spending the last four months holed up in his hotel room and later a rented apartment, a homesick Loga was granted leave by his employers to return to Croatia to be with his family. Loga, who also has seen duty in Sudan, told The Sunday Mail
Sport that he would return when football activity eventually resumes.
He had been hoping to lead his home-based Warriors to the CHAN tournament in Cameroon, which had been scheduled for April 4-25, with Loga’s men pencilled to get the tournament underway with a Group A clash in Yaoundé. The CHAN tournament has now been moved to January 2021.
“I live by myself in Zimbabwe, so when I am doing what I am supposed to be doing, I don’t get bored, but now when there are no games and we are not training and there is nothing much I am doing, I start to miss my family and to be with friends around me.
“Unlike most of you in Zimbabwe, you have friends and family to talk to. I had not made many friends by the time Covid19 came, I came just a month before the coronavirus pandemic,” said Loga.
He said his leave would last a month, but insisted he still longs for the game to resume.
“We are football people and without games being played or trainings to oversee there was nothing much I could do so I decided that come back to Croatia hence I took a month-long leave to be with my family.
“I returned to Croatia 10 days ago, I was spending so much time alone in Zimbabwe and began to feel lonely and I needed to be with my family, but I will return to Zimbabwe,” said Loga.
Despite being back in his native country, Loga said he would continue to monitor the situation in both Zimbabwe and with his players, who are dotted around the globe.
“I will keep on monitoring what’s happening in Zimbabwe. I have heard that resort areas have been re-opened and that is a good thing. I am looking forward to returning at the end of the month.”
ZIFA communications and competitions manager Xolisani Gwesela, in confirming Loga’s return to Europe, said the Croat’s leave was unconditional.
“I can confirm that there was an agreement that the coach returns to Croatia as there is no football activity due to the debilitating coronavirus.
“He will return when football activity begins and there were no terms altered, his contract remains intact,’’ Gwesela said.
Like ZIFA, the Football Association of Zambia, whose senior team — Chipolopolo — are in the same group with the Warriors, had just appointed a new coach — Milutin “Micho’’ Sredojevic — just before COvid-19 conspired to halt global football.
While ZIFA and the Warriors will for the moment only have to await Loga’s return, which could also mean the coach going into mandatory quarantine when he eventually comes back, the same cannot be said about their rivals Zambia for whom Sredojevic indicated that they have to work and not sit back crying about Covid-19.
Micho has insisted that the coronavirus pandemic is a time to “be proactive instead of sitting and crying”.
He had only been in his job for a month before the crisis cancelled world sport, including his debut game in March.
According to reports from Lusaka, the 50-year old Serbian, appointed at the start of February, has been holed up in the Zambian capital since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Under the circumstances, we asked ourselves, what should we do? We had to be proactive instead of sitting and crying about the situation,” he told BBC Sport Africa.
Chipolopolo were due to try and revive their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with two games against Botswana in March, the same time the Warriors were to face Algeria, but they were postponed. With no competitive football to prepare for, Micho set up individual training programmes for 55 home-based players who he has identified as potentials for the national team.
He is hoping this will ensure they are in better physical condition than their opponents when Zambia next play, likely in October, when the Nations Cup qualifiers are scheduled to resume.
Also important was motivation and so he has spent a lot of time keeping contact with players over the mobile phone and/ or the laptop.
“We wanted to make sure our players were not infected with the Covid-19 and then to also alleviate any mental trauma they may be suffering because of the lockdown.
“We were in regular contact with them to emphasise that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“The players have worked progressively to maintain their fitness levels which will help them when they returned to their respective clubs, practically re-integrating without having lost much fitness.”
Micho says he is excited about the prospects of his team despite Zambia’s poor start to the Nations Cup qualifiers.
In November, they lost to Algeria
5-0 away and then were beaten 2-1 at home by the Warriors in their opening Group H assignments.
“When you are outside and looking at the Zambia post, you get a positive picture,” he enthused.
“But, sincerely speaking, when you take the job it is even 10 times more positive. The magnitude of the job is huge.
“This is a country of unbelievable football potential and an enormous amount of talent plus a football culture that really lives and loves the game whole heartedly.
“You must believe it when I tell you that every day I wake up and feel I have to do something for the game here.
“I cannot go to sleep unless I feel I have done something. It is true that the job is enormous, and I have no words to express the feeling of carrying the hopes of 18 million Zambians on my shoulders.”
As well as aiming for the Nations Cup in
Cameroon, now postponed to 2022, both Zambia and Zimbabwe are also in the race for a place at the next World Cup in Qatar and are looking to begin their qualifying campaigns in November.
“Zambia has an enormous name in the world of football, but has done so poorly lately,” the former
Uganda boss said.
“The positive picture of Zambia in football is evaporating, so there is a sense of pride that needs to be restored.
“We want to use this to generate a positive energy to reclaim the pride of
Zambian football.”
Micho feels there is an exciting generation progressing through the ranks and aims to build his side with the players that won the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil in 2017.
“They are led by Patson Daka and Enock Mwepu. I believe the country now has a generation to return Zambian football to where it is supposed to be . . . among the top five footballing countries on the continent,” he said.
“I am also preparing a crop of players from here that are still unknown, but let me tell you, our power will come from feeding those fish when they are still young and turning them into sharks”.