Zimpapers Logo

Stanford Chiwanga

IN 2020, Zdravko Logarušic proved to himself and the rest of the world that he possessed the qualities respected by football pundits; outstanding personal courage and the ability to lead players out of discomfort and danger when he snatched a draw trailing 0-2 to Algeria and rallied the Warriors to an Afcon qualifying victory against Botswana.

He fully deserved the acclaims that greeted him and the blaze of decorations that recognised his gallantry.

He was no longer touted as a nomadic coach, who does not stay long enough in a job, but was now being counted in the league of the greats.

It meant Loga had stepped clear of the shadow that had always hindered him from achieving success in African football.

It was a fateful legacy, as it confirmed in Loga’s mind that he was a man apart, a man of destiny.

It bolstered his vanity; displayed in his obsession with deflecting blame. After all he could do no wrong.

After a dismal performance in the African Nations Championships (Chan) in Cameroon, Loga refused to take responsibility and he chose to blame Covid-19 and poor preparations.

Fast forward to July and we found Loga in his element as he blamed lack of football in Zimbabwe and fatigue for the Warriors’ early exit from the Cosafa Cup in South Africa.

“I will tell you why the coach is not a disaster like what people are saying. We finished Afcon. We qualified. I completed my mission. My next mission is the World Cup. I am preparing myself for the World Cup qualifiers and then here comes Cosafa. Should I take my first team to Cosafa? A tournament that is not even on the Fifa calendar!

“No club in Europe would release their players. I could not call up players in Europe because it would distract them on their pre-season. Do you think our Team B could go and bring Cosafa?” the Croat asked.

True to his form, Loga has again chosen to blame all, but himself for the World Cup qualifier loss to Ethiopia.
He pointed at the referee for awarding a penalty and the players for missing chances.

The solitary victory over Botswana that qualified the Warriors for the Afcon gave Loga power over Zifa.

He knew what he was doing and he who would do the thinking and make the decisions, and Zifa fuelled his arrogance by defending him every time he faced criticism.

The fierce defence from Zifa suited him and he has used it to display his incompetence with aplomb.

Loga’s arrogance and eloquence was in full display when Howard Musonza took him to task live on the Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN).

“Let me tell you one thing about the World Cup qualifiers; call me just after September, after those two games and I will tell you with pleasure and you then you gonna eat all those words that you said right now. Coach is ready, coach is ready and the players that I will call will be ready . . . Trust me, coach Loga will top group in October, coach Loga will not disappoint for the World Cup, for sure. No worry about Ghana, no worry about South Africa; let them come play with us. I am gonna make a fantastic cake . . . you will see,” said Loga arrogantly on the show.

Always emotional and often melodramatic throughout his career, Loga tends to swing between extremes of despair paraded in his almost hysterical demands for his former employers, Gor Mahia, a topflight club in Kenya, to secure him an air ticket that would allow him to return to Croatia in the case that the club fired him and extremes of elation displayed in the theatrical promise to the Gor Mahia hierarchy that he would win them their first league title in 18 years after they appointed him coach. He never lived up to that promise.

Wherever Loga has gone, he has always left in a cloud of controversy. Witness his ungraceful departure from the Sudanese national team after some rumblings over team selection and what was perceived by some fans and media to be a negative style of play.

Adroit and daring as he can be, Loga is also headlong and precipitate. Temperamentally he is out of place in modern football. He does not see as the likes of Sunday Chidzambwa, Norman Mapeza and Charles Mhlauri see; that modern coaching is a matter of argument, debate, co-operation and even compromise.

In a nutshell, Loga lacks the necessary humility to be more than just a good coach. Yes, he has done relatively well in Africa, but his pride will always see him falling short of being a great coach.

Since he came to Zimbabwe, the local media has been frank and not sympathetic to Loga.

Their analysis of Loga’s coaching credentials justified the conclusion that he is an average coach, maybe suited to club football.

If Zimbabwe coaching parallels are to be pursued, there is less in common between Loga and the local coaches that took Zimbabwe to Afcon. Loga strives for greatness, but because of his vanity, he will always fall short of it.
Zimbabwe is better off without him.