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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Warriors’ captain Benjani Mwaruwari has been appointed assistant coach of the senior national team with immediate effect.

The former Portsmouth and Manchester City striker, who recently acquired his Uefa A coaching badge, will be the third Warriors’ assistant coach to Croat Zdvarko Logarusic with Tonderayi Ndiraya and Lloyd Mutasa already in that role.

“The executive committee received a progress report from the Technical and Development Committee with regards to all matches played in 2021. The exco resolved that the technical teams will remain unchanged. The exco further resolved to augment the Warriors’ technical team by appointing Benjani Mwaruwari as an assistant coach.

The appointment is with immediate effect,” said Zifa in a statement.

Although Zifa did not reveal The Undertaker’s contract details, sources last night said he will remain assistant coach for the entire period that Logarusic will be with the national team.

Loga’s contract runs out in February next year.

“It hasn’t been agreed yet, but the plan is to have Benji taking over from Loga,” said a source.

Mwaruwari has previously been attached to Portsmouth as an understudy coach.

He referred all inquiries to Zifa when Chronicle Sport contacted him for comment last night.

Loga has been under fire since taking over the Warriors’ reins.

They performed dismally in the Chan in Cameroon in January and in the Cosafa Cup in South Africa last month.

The Warriors have managed a single win in 12 matches under Loga and finished the last two Cosafa Cup tournaments at the bottom of the table.

They were also bottom of the 16-team Chan finals held in Cameroon at the beginning of the year, losing all their matches in the tournament.

Warriors’ legends Alexander Maseko and Edelbert Dinha recently called for Loga’s sacking, saying the Croat was taking the national team nowhere.

Although the Warriors managed to qualify for the Afcon finals with a game to spare and Loga became the first foreign coach to get them to the Afcon finals, they only won one game under him.

They only qualified on the strength of the foundation laid by stand-in coach Joey Antipas, whose side beat Zambia in Lusaka.

That win in Lusaka virtually secured the Warriors qualification for the Afcon finals.