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contract was a demonstration of their confidence that the Zimbabwean forward could be nurtured into one of the big stars in world football.
Pagels, who is a German national, says the tradition for clubs in the Bundesliga is to offer two or three year contracts and, in the exceptional cases they give five-year deals, the players have to be really special.

“Usually in Germany, players get two-year contracts at most and, in those two years, it is intensive development and after that the players are released,” said Pagels.
“But getting five years means they value you highly and want to keep you for a long time and even if it means releasing you later, the value would just be very high.
“In signing Musona from South Africa for five years this club was really serious about the player and really wanted him here.

“Their scout (Lou Pfannestiel) phoned me asking about Musona and I told him I don’t really know about the player because he plays in South Africa but after the Mali match (at Rufaro) I contacted him and gave him my opinion.
“The first time I had seen Musona was when I worked with Norman (Mapeza) when the team was preparing for Liberia but I didn’t see much.”

The technical expert said it was very easy for Musona to scale dizzy heights in the Bundesliga and it would also be easy for him to be a flop.
“If you want to be successful here you must live for football.
“The best example is the Nigerian Olympic team which did well and the players got contracts because before anyone knew the players.

“After three years Nigerian football began to go down, why, because the players didn’t live for football afterwards they thought they had made it and were now saying we now have got the money and can live like stars,” said Pagels.
The German, who has been working in Zimbabwe for the past year on a Government-to-Government agreement, believes Musona has already done well by securing a big contract in the Bundesliga.

“My opinion is that he can make it very well here. Everybody knows that he is a good player who can dribble and score.
“But he needs to be stronger than he is right now. Germany football needs strong players, body fitness here is very high.
“All the defenders play tough football.

“The speed here is higher than Zimbabwe or South African football so he has to work on his body fitness of which it should not be a problem if a player is focused.
“To be successful in Germany he should become more of a team player than he is.
“He is more of an individual player and here in Germany you have no time to do everything on your own because the defenders would really be close.

“He has the technical aspect and passion for football and is still very young.
“And more importantly he has to learn German language quickly but learning the language for a player who has passion should not be difficult.
“The club organises the lessons and pays for them and after training you have all the time to learn and with everyone speaking Deutsche at the club it should not be a problem but learning a language

needs dedication and commitment above everything,” said Pagels.
The 61-year-old football expert believes Musona would not be under pressure to deliver for his side in a short of space considering the nature of his contract.
Pagels also spoke about Musona’s new base and said while the sponsor has got a lot of money, he spends it wisely and believes in youth policy.

Interestingly Pagels also taught Musona’s assistant coach.
“The sponsor Dietmar Hopp is a former Bundesliga player and is not misguided with a mentality that money can make anything happen in football.
“At the club there is money but their sponsor is strict.

“He doesn’t splash money and for the last five years he has been with the club he said he will not just buy players from all over the world but will also concentrate on youth policy and there a lot of young players at the club.
“The trainers are good. And one of the assistant coaches is one of my former students, he is from Hamburg.

“The club is a small club situated in a village and when the sponsor came he built another stadium.
“It has about 20 000 to 25 000 supporters and the nearest town is Stuttgart.

“It is about 700 kilometers away from my home town Stade and is smaller than Stade.
“The club is even smaller than HSV Hamburger which was toured today by the Mighty Warriors,” said Pagels.

The German said more Zimbabweans could break into the Bundesliga but the major obstacle was that there wasn’t any German scout in the country at the moment.
“My opinion is we should have more players here and not only in the first division but second and third leagues because they are competitive enough and financially good.

“But the problem is we don’t have German scouts in Zimbabwe and if Musona wasn’t playing in South Africa he would not have made it.
“I will try to open many doors for Zimbabwean players here but it is not always easy when you have managers who rush to press when you have just enquired about a player. It doesn’t work like that here,” said Pagels.