Zimbabwe coach Marinica: South Africa extremely good

Zimbabwe’s new coach Mario Marinica has identified South Africa as among the stumbling blocks to the Warriors’ 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) ambitions.

The Romania-born tactician shared his thoughts on his target for the continental football showpiece after beginning his tenure with the Warriors.

The former Malawi coach analysed the Warriors squad currently in Saudi Arabia for friendlies against Algeria and Qatar, noting their strength, weaknesses and what he expects from the players. Zimbabwe face Algeria at the Prince Abdul Aziz Stadium on Thursday before taking on Qatar a few days later.

What the ex-Black Leopards coach think of South Africa

Marinica, speaking to the ZIFA media, did not mince words that getting past the AFCON group stages would not be a stroll in the park. He analysed the Group B opposition at hand namely Angola and Egypt while singling out South Africa.

“Also being chosen to lead the Zimbabwe national team in this challenging period and try to qualify past the group stages is not easy,” the former Black Leopards coach said.

“But I saw a lot of quality. However, there are a lots of other things to be worked on because we have tough opponents in Egypt. We also have Angola, a very good team and not to say South Africa; extremely good team; rival opponent. We need to go there and get the required points.”

The UEFA Pro-Licence holder then spelt out what he expects from the Warriors for them to achieve the AFCON aspirations.

“We want to see a positive response from the players, to put their hands up and say it is a big honour to represent their country. Second, we will try to see some of the areas that in the past may not have been right,” he added, citing the need for improvements in scoring, shooting dangerously on target and creating scoring opportunities.

Marinica said the third thing he would demand from the players was for them “to put a lot of energy into matches. They will have to show that they really want to win a match. In order to win matches, it is the heart.”

The Englishman has signed a one-year contract with ZIFA, replacing Michael Nees who earned the team the AFCON qualification despite just winning twice in 14 games spread across all competitions.

A winless run in the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying matches for Africa eventually cost the job of the German. The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) went on the hunt for a new man to take the team to the AFCON finals with Marinica being hired for the daunting task.

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